Desperate Love
by ChristianDragon
Summary: After all attempts of wooing Pikachu fails, Buneary joins up with a team no one would ever expect. PikachuxBuneary. Reated T for a bit of deep sadness later on. I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

_**All right. First fan fic chapter up for me! Hope you all enjoy and review.**_

_Desperate Love_

_Chapter 1_

_It was a bright and sunny day as the sun shone through the thick layers of leaves that made a forest, though not all of the forest was lit by the sun's light. There were some dark areas that were hard to see in. Wild pokemon scurried about, minding their own business and avoiding a path humans often used to walk along. But not very many humans showed. However, on this beautiful day, three humans were walking along the path en route to the next city._

_The first human was a boy with black raven like hair. Of course, he wore a hat to cover it. He wore a blue shirt with a yellow strip going across and jeans. Up upon his shoulder was a yellow mouse with red cheeks and a lightning shaped tail. The next human was a girl with long, blue hair. She wore a white pullover cap, a red handkerchief around her neck a black shirt with a pink skirt, and pink boots. The last human was another boy, though a bit older than the other two. He had spiky brown hair and wore an orange vest over a green shirt along with khaki pants_

_The girl sighed depressingly suddenly, grabbing the attention of the boys. "Is everything all right, Dawn?" the first boy asked. "What's wrong?" "Well we've been traveling through this forest for a good part of the day now," the girl named Dawn replied. "Are you sure we're not lost?" "I'm not entirely sure," the boy admitted with a sheepish grin. "That's just great," Dawn said angrily. "I knew we shouldn't have let you decide on which path to take. We should have used the coin toss." "We did use it," the boy shouted back. "If I remember correctly, I chose tails and that's the side the coin landed on." "Yeah, and because of that we're now lost in a forest." As the two argued, the older boy watched, memories flooding his mind at what the good days used to be like. __"It's just like Ash to always lead us in the wrong direction," _he thought. _"But we always manage to come out where we mean to be."_

Back to the matter at hand, Brock knew he had to break up the two. Otherwise, they'd go on for hours until no end. "Enough!" he yelled, stopping the arguing. "Look, it doesn't matter who chose what path. What matters is that we may have chosen a path no one ever comes down anymore. I think this is a great opportunity to see what's down here." "Yeah I guess you're right," Dawn said. The boy named Ash nodded his head in agreement. It was then the yellow rat on his shoulder perked his ears up suddenly. His ears caught the single slightest noise of something different from the forest. "Pika!" he yelled, grabbing the attention of the trainers. "What is it, Pikachu?" Ash asked as Pikachu hopped down from his shoulder and began running through some bushes.

"(Follow me)," Pikachu said. "Come one," Ash said as the three followed. They followed Pikchu around a group of trees and stopped short, gasping in surprise at what lay before them.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's so beautiful!" Dawn gasped in awe as she and the boys stared at a lake. Brock took the time to take out a small book and look at it.

"Weird," he said. "The guidebook mentions nothing about a lake."

"What good is that thing anyway?" asked Dawn as she took it from Brock. "Who actually gives a care if the guidebook mentions about a lake. Maybe no one mentioned it so that it would remain a secret."

"Or perhaps no one even knows it's here," Ash said.

"You think?" Dawn asked.

"I'm not completely sure," Ash modestly replied, causing the other two to sigh. "But any way, I think it would be a great place to set up camp."

"I totally agree," Dawn said excitedly.

"Yeah," Brock said. "And I think we should let our pokemon out as well."

"Alright then," Ash said as he threw four red and white balls into the air. "Come on out, everybody." The poke balls stopped in midair and released flashes of light, which all turned into different creatures.

Aside from Pikachu, there was a bird with a really weird hair style on its head known as Staravia. The next one was a green, four legged pokemon with a small twig sprouting from its head known as Turtwig. The third was a monkey with fire for a tail known as Chimchar. The fourth was an otter with two tails known as Buizel.

Dawn was next to release her pokemon. They consisted of a blue penguin named Piplup, a bunny with fluff on its lower half and on both its ears named Buneary, a squirrel with spikes on its tail named Pachirisu, and a monkey with two tails named Aibipom.

Brock released his pokemon which consisted of a round, pink pokemon named Happiny, a walking tree named Sudowoodo, and a purple toad with barely any expression named Croagunk.

"Alright you guys," Ash said. "We're all camping out here by this lake for the night. So you all enjoy." The pokemon cheered in excitement as they all rushed off to enjoy their day. However, unbeknownst to the trainers and their pokemon, they were all being watched from some nearby bushes.

Eight pairs of eyes watched as they all had fun, envious that they weren't in the same situation themselves. On was a girl with long red hair that went down and curled at the end. The second was a boy with lavender hair. Both of them wore white uniforms with a red R on their shirts. Between the two was a catlike pokemon with a charm on its head. The pokemon next to the girl was a big, blue blob with a flat tail.

The boy sighed. "It sure must be fun getting to have so many adventures and just hanging out at different locations."

"Yeah," the cat pokemon said. "And I bet that food tastes good as well."

"Shut it, the both of you," the girl said.

"But Jessie," the boy whined. "Just look at the way they have fun together. Since when was the last time we had that much fun?" The girl named Jessie could only sigh.

"I guess you're right," she said. "But the problem is we can't get close enough without getting blasted off again."

"(I'm hungry,)" the blob pokemon said, causing Jessie to get angry.

"You'll get your share fair when we steal that food," Jessie said, recalling her pokemon.

"Just how do you plan on grabbing all that food?" the cat pokemon asked.

"I have an idea," Jessie said. "We wait until they're all asleep. Then we just take what we need and make off with it."

"How about we try taking that twerp's Happiny?" the cat pokemon suggested. "I mean aside from its strength, its completely harmless most of the time."

"Good plan, Meowth," the boy said. "And we could possibly take that Piplup, Buneary, and Pachirisu all our own too."

"Good thinking, James," Jessie said. "And let's grab that Turtwig and most importantly, Staravia. That way those twerps can't spot us."

"What a clever idea," James chuckled as the three went back to watching the trainers and their pokemon.

Brock was busy preparing lunch for his friends while Dawn and Ash were in the lake with most of their pokemon. The only ones who weren't were Turtwig, who was busy collecting berries, Sudowoodo, who was holding a rope that was tied to Happiny's inner tube, Croagunk, who was sitting on the edge of the lake with his feet in the water, Staravia who was perched in a tree, Chimchar who was sleeping in the warmth of the sun, and Buneary who was busily looking for flowers.

She looked out in the lake and watched as Pikachu dove below the water. Buneary sighed as a small blush came to her face.

"(He's so good looking!)" she thought as she watched him rise above the surface. She noticed Piplup sneaking up behind him while he was busy splashing Ash. Buneary watched as Pikachu's ears pricked up while he was still splashing Ash. Suddenly, Pikachu's tail smacked down, sending a spray of water right at Piplup who was surprised.

Pikachu turned around, smirking and laughing. "(You'll have to do better than that,)" he said before being tackled by Aibipom. Buneary smiled dreamily as she watched them all have a good time. She was so entranced that she didn't even notice Turtwig right next to her until he spoke.

"(Staring at Pikachu again, aren't you?)" he asked, even though he knew the answer.

"(What?)" Buneary asked, caught off guard and blushing furiously. "(Says who?)"

"(It's pretty obvious to everyone, just about,)" Turtwig replied. "(The only ones who don't know are Ash and Pikachu.)"

"(Even Buizel and Croagunk know!?)" Buneary asked surprised, blushing like mad.

"(Them too,)" Turtwig said. Buneary was so embarrassed to know this that she lifted her fluff over face. "(Aw come on. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Love is natural. It's alright to love somebody as long as you don't go overboard.)"

"(Really?)" Buneary asked, lowering the fluff a little to show her eyes.

"(Would I lie to you?)" Turtwig asked.

"(No,)" Buneary answered, showing her face again as she groomed her fluff.

"(Look,)" Turtwig said. "(I know how much you like Pikachu. Trust me, we all do. But if you want to win his heart, you're going to have to play it right.)"

"(But how do I do that?)" Buneary asked.

"(Buneary, you're about to get a little help from the love expert,)" Turtwig said.


	3. Chapter 3

("You know what love is?") Buneary asked.

("Well, to be quite honest, I really don't know that much,") Turtwig admitted. ("I mean before I met Ash, I always kept the peace by breaking up fights. That's my specialty. Making peace among others.")

("So then how can you help me learn what love is?") asked Buneary.

("There's an old saying that I remember someone saying once,") Turtwig responded. ("I just can't remember how it went.")

("So then how do I get Pikachu to notice me?") Buneary asked desperately.

("Give me a moment to think,") Turtwig said as he shut his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and said, ("Try finding out what his interests are. Then go and give him that thing he likes.")

("But I don't know what he likes,") Buneary said.

("Well you have to go and ask,") Turtwig said. ("Or go ask others who knows what kind of things Pikachu likes.")

("O.K.") Buneary said, determined by this new advice. ("Thanks for your help, Turtwig.")

("Any time,") Turtwig said as Brock called out for lunch.

("Lunch!") Staravia screeched as he swooped down from the tree quickly and landed, waiting for his lunch to be served.

"Looks like you beat all the rest," Brock chuckled as he served Staravia before the others gathered around for Brock's stew. Buneary got in behind Buizel, deciding to talk to him. Soon, everyone was sitting down and eating. Now was the chance Buneary could talk.

("Good soup, isn't it?") she asked.

("Always is,")" Buizel said as he slurped down a spoonful. Buneary blew on hers to cool it off before swallowing.

("Don't we always have our own kind of food prepared?") Buneary asked.

("I guess Brock wanted to have a special meal day,") Buizel replied with another swallow. Buneary blew on the soup a bit until it cooled.

("So how do you like being on Ash's team?")

("I love it,") Buizel answered happily ("I always get to battle and it actually feels good doing so.")

("And what do you think of your teammates?") Buneary asked. ("Like what are your thoughts on them?") Buizel looked up from his soup, thinking for a moment.

("Well,") he said. ("I find Chimchar almost a good fighter. He just has a little problem controlling his behavior whenever he sees that mean guy. What was his name again?")

("I think it was Paul,") Buneary said.

("Right. Back to my teammates, Turtwig seems like an alright kind of guy. He breaks up arguments and battles when called upon. Staravia I don't know too much about. I find him mostly up in the trees all the time.")

("And what about Pikachu?") asked Buneary. ("What do you think of him?")

("I find him as a really strong fighter,") Buizel replied. ("He's always up for a challenge more than the rest of us. Of course, I find myself second best to Pikachu. His Volt Tackle is evenly matched to my Aqua Jet.")

("So he likes to battle a lot?") Buneary asked.

("Among other things,") Buizel replied with a smile.

("There's nothing else that he likes?") Buneary asked.

("None that I can think of,") Buizel said. ("Well, aside from always hanging around Ash. Those two practically never part. They're like best pals or something.")

("Pikachu never leaves Ash's side?")

("Well if he does, he does it so rarely.")

Buneary stared down into her soup, thinking. Buizel was watching her, wondering what she was up to.

Also thinking, he quickly added, ("But you know, if someone needs him for some special reason, I'm sure his attention will turn to that someone.")

Buneary looked up from her soup as Buizel continued swallowing down on his. Buneary's mind began thinking up of something that might get Pikachu to turn to her.

("So Pikachu likes battling more than anything else aside from staying by Ash's side, huh?") she thought as a plan began cooking up within her ("This gives me an idea.")


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone was back in the pond after a quick lunch but the usual pokemon, minus Turtwig who joined in on the fun. Brock jumped in as well to have a fun time as well. He even pulled Croagunk in who was caught by surprise. In revenge, Croagunk found a Clampearl and got it to clamp down on Brock's swim trunks. Unknown to Brock, the Clampearl ripped his swim trunks off and sunk back down to the bottom.

Croagunk swam back to land and got out to watch what would happen. It took a bit of a while, but finally, one dived under the water. Unfortunately, that someone turned out to be poor Ash.

Seconds after his dive under, he resurfaced and swam fast for land screaming, "Everyone out of the pond!"

"How come?" asked Dawn.

"What's up with him?" Brock wondered.

Ash got out and told Brock to dive under. Brock did so and resurfaced with a large embarrassed blush on his face. By this time, Croagunk was smirking, though it was hard to read his facial expressions.

"What's the matter?" Dawn asked.

"I seem to have lost my, um, this so embarrassing," Brock said, his face beat red. One way or another, Dawn and the pokemon but Happiny realized what Brock was talking about and made way for land as well. Croagunk could only stiffle a chuckle as Brock turned and glared at him.

"I'll deal with you later," he threatened.

While this was happening, Buneary was busy with her own plans. Using a tree as target practice, she attacked it with every thing she had, using moves she learned in her Contest Battles. She used a combo of Ice Beam and Dizzy Punch, creating falling shards of ice that sparkled as the sunlight refracted off of them.

("Wow!") Buneary said, staring in awe at the shards. ("They're so beautiful. Maybe Pikachu will finally realize just how great I am once he sees them. Maybe I'll surprise myself with some other tricks.")

Buneary happily bounced back to the pond where mass chaos was happening at the moment. Croagunk had dove down into the pond and managed to retrieve Brocks' swim trunks before Brock could.

"Not funny, Croagunk," Brock said angrily as Croagunk got out of the pond. "Give me back my swim trunks right now."

"I got him," Ash said as he leapt at Croagunk and missed, falling back into the pond. Piplup just fainted on the spot, overwhelmed at the sheer craziness he had to experience.

Buneary bounced into view, not understanding the event going on. All she could see in that moment was Pikachu running about gracefully, but only in her eyes.

("Pikachu!") she called out. Pikchu stopped at the sound of her voice and looked over to her.

("What?") he asked.

("I want you to see something I was just practicing,") Buneary said flirtatiously.

("Not now, Buneary,") Pikachu said. ("I'm a little busy at the moment.")

("But Pikachu, I-") Buneary never finished as Pikachu ran off after Croagunk. Buneary lowered her ears in sadness. She sadly turned and walked over to a tree and slumped down in misery.

(_"Why won't he get a hint that I'm flirting?"_) she asked herself. (_"He always just manages to ignore me all the time. What do I have to do to get his attention?"_)

Lost in thought, she failed to notice yet again that someone was right next to her.

("What's wrong, Buneary?") Staravia asked, startling Buneary. ("I'm sorry. I dodn't mean to scare you.")

("That's all right,") Buneary said. ("So how are you doing?")

("I was going to ask you the same question,") Staravia said. ("You seem a little down. What's bothering you?")

Buneary didn't answer. Staravia stared blankly at her and then up at everyone chasing Croagunk. He smiled as he watched Pikachu skid to a halt and began running a different way.

("It's Pikachu, isn't it?") he asked, though he knew the answer. Buneary nodded her head.

("I'm always flirting with him and trying to get him to like me,") Buneary said. ("But no matter what I do he just doesn't seem to realize it.")

("That's Pikachu for you,") Staravia said. ("But you know, just because he acts like he does now doesn't mean he'll act like this forever. One day he'll start realizing things he never picked up. Then he'll try his very best to catch up to those things until he makes it at last and gets what he wants.")

("But by that time it may be too late,") Buneary said. ("And I don't want to wait for that long.")

("Then try getting Pikachu by fulfilling your wants,") Staravia said.

("And how should I do that?") Buneary asked.

("That you'll have to ask Turtwig,") Staravia answered. ("He's the only one in the group who's close to knowing what love's all about.")

("I'll try asking him, maybe,") Buneary said. ("Then again, I may have an idea on how to get Pikachu's attention.")

("Good luck on that,") Staravia said.

The afternoon went by while everyone tried catching Croagunk, and I do mean everyone. Croagunk apparently was having too much fun to stop. It wasn't until Croagunk slipped and fell into the pond did the fun stop.

Buneary managed to hop down on top of him and yanked the swim trunks from Croagunk's paw and quickly threw it to Brock who put them on and made his way to land at last. Unfortunately, by staying in the water for so long, Brock came down with a small cold.

Hoping to warm Brock up, Ash and Dawn collected firewood and had Chimchar light it. Everyone sat around the warm fire, cooking marsh mellows over it. Buneary was sitting across from Pikachu not really paying much attention to her marsh mellow, but rather at Pikachu who was swaying his marsh mellow back and forth on the stick.

She heard her master talking with the boys and decided to have a bit of fun with Pikachu. Slowly inching upwards to the fire, her stick was soon close enough to Pikachu's. She looked around using her eyes only, noticing that everyone else was talking amongst each other but Happiny and Croagunk.

Happiny was asleep while Craogunk watched Buneary, but she didn't mind. Croagunk wasn't much of a pokemon of words. Pikachu was distracted at the moment, so I took my opportunity and began lightly tapping his stick with mine, almost like a sword duel. I was so entranced at Pikachu's swaying with my tapping that I barely even heard him.

("Stop that Buneary,") I heard him say, snapping out of my entrancement.

("What?") I said, startled.

("You're going to cause my mash mellow to drop,") he said, whacking my stick away. However, in doing so, his marsh mellow just dripped off and landed in the fire, becoming nothing more than melted food.

("Thanks a lot, Buneary,") Pikachu said with a growl as he got up and walked off. Buneary drooped her ears as her face turned red from embarrassment from being told off in front of the others.

"What's the matter with Pikachu?" Ash asked as Pikachu angrily walked into the tent.

Dawn and Brock only sighed, for they, too, knew how Buneary felt for Pikachu. Before long, everyone was retiring to bed fast. Soon, the only one left out was Buneary who decided to stay out until the fire died down.

She clutched her hurting heart, hurt from how careless Pikachu was acting towards her since the day she met him. Sure there were times he enjoyed her company, but other than that, he just didn't seem to have any remote interest in her whatsoever.

She sighed, tired as she was. It was really late now and all Buneary wanted was some sleep. Getting up, Buneary walked over to the pond and used her fur to soak up some of the water. She went back to the fire and wringed the water out of her fur, extinguishing the embers.

She repeated this four or five more times until the fire was completely out. Then, too tired to even make it into the tent her master and team was sleeping in, she collapsed and fell fast asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Buneary and the others weren't the only ones asleep. From the bushes came the sound of snoring. Laying down in the soft, cool grass, Team Rocket slept. They all were sleeping in weird positions. Jessie was lying with her rear in the air while face was flat on the ground. James had his arms wrapped around himself with one leg in the air. Meowth was sprawled out.

The sound of a buzzer woke the three up from their strange positions after a while. As all three woke up, Jessie and James were confused as to why they were sleeping the way they did.

"Sometimes I still wonder why I'm still on this team," Meowth said. "I mean what's our purpose?"

"Well isn't it simple?" Jessie asked. "Our purpose is to steal rare and valuable pokemon."

"Yeah but ever since we met that one twerp, we've been following him all around the world, just for his Pikachu," Meowth said. "You know the entire time we've been chasing him we could have been out collecting other pokemon. That way we wouldn't be blasting off so all the time."

"You know Meowth has a point," James said.

"Yeah," Jessie agreed. "But you forget, if we did that, then those twerps wouldn't have an enemy to fight off and the only plot they would have to worry about is helping others. We're supposed to be trying to catch Pikachu and fail."

"I almost forgot," James said. "Thanks, Jessie."

"Yeah," Meowth said. "I feel a whole lot better."

("Me too,") Wobbefut said, popping out of his pokeball.

"Well if you two are done blabbing, we have a job to do," Jessie said.

"Right," the other two said as they hopped from the bushes and began making their way slowly and quietly towards the little campsite. Wobbefut veered off to the side, unknown to the other three.

"O.K.," Jessie whispered to the other two. "We'll all split up and capture each twerps' pokemon. James, you go get that big twerp's pokemon. Meowth, you go steal that other guy's pokemon. I'll take care of the girl."

"Right," Meowth said.

"Hey where's Wobbefut?" James asked. All three looked around until they found him sitting nearby Buneary eating the left over marsh mellows.

"Never mind him," Jessie said. "He'll just endanger the mission. Split up." All three split up, James and Meowth tackling the boy's tent together while Jessie went for Dawn. However, as they were preparing to put their plan into action, Buneary, whom was still asleep, suddenly awoke with a start.

She jumped up, her ears fully up and alert, listening for something. She looked around, not sure what the noise was. She looked to her side and noticed Wobbufet siting there eating the marsh mellow, completely oblivious to Buneary's presence. Turning fully around, she noticed three suspicious looking characters sneaking into both tents.

("Stop right there,") she shouted, stopping the three in alarm and surprise. Buneary fired an Ice Beam at the closest one, which was Jessie. Jessie leapt back in time, avoiding the ice as it struck the ground she was standing on moments before.

"Minor set back," she thought as she threw out two pokeballs. Coming out of them were a snake with a blade-like tail while the other was a moth. "Alright Seviper. Poison Tail. Dustox, Poison Sting."

Both pokemon attacked, but Buneary bounced out of the way. Wobbufet was now alert as both attacks collided.

"Jessie," James said as he and Meowth ran up. "Is everything O.K.?"

"That girl's Buneary was sleeping outside the entire time," Jessie told them. "We have to get her before she alerts the others."

"I got this," James said, throwing out three of his pokeballs. Coming ut was a small cactus barrel while the other was a huge plant eater. "Cacnea, Needle Arm. Carnivine, Tackle!" James commanded as two of them did so. The other was a small clown pokemon.

Buneary jumped out of the way from both attacks, landing a fairly good distance from the tents. Buneary growled, trying to figure out how she would alert the others. Jessie and James' pokemon were blocking here path from reaching it. Buneary was trying to figure out a plan to get around them as the four began advancing on her. Suddenly, her ears pricked up again, hearing the familiar noise she heard earlier.

("That's not good,") Buneary thought as she looked behind her. ("I was hoping that it was Team Rocket that I heard. What could this new noise be?") As she pondered, Team Rocket were watching with wonder on why she wasn't looking at them.

"Say, what's going on?" Jessie asked. "Why isn't Buneary looking our way?"

"Maybe she hears something," Meowth said. True enough, that something was suddenly heard as some of the trees in the forest fell over, disappearing into the forest. Buneary ran for the tents, yelling in terror.

"What's going on out there?" came Ash's voice as the noise grew louder. The noise itself seemed to be a whirring noise, though quite heavy. Zippers were heard opening up and out step the three with their pokemon.

"Team Rocket," Ash said angrily. "What are you three up to this time?"

"We're not up to anything," James defended quickly. "I mean we were but now we may have a bigger problem."

All turned to stare as the noise began revealing itself from out of the forest. Wobbufet, now noticing what was going on, ran back to Jessie and clinged to her.

"Cling to someone else," she yelled, pushing him off him.

("But I'm scared,") Wobbufet said. Pikachu leapt in front of everyone else, his cheeks sparking. Close behind him was Buneary. At last, the noise reveaed itself to be a big armored tank.

"What is that?" Ash asked in surprise as everyone else gasped in sheer shock. The tank stopped moving, the noise ceasing immediately. At first, nothing happened, but then, a human walked out on top of it. Everyone, including Ash, Pikachu, and Meowth, were totally surprised to see who it was.

"It can't be," Meowth said fearfully. "Don't tell me he's here to recapture me."

"How could this be?" Dawn asked. "How did he know where to find us?"

Everyone was totally surprised by this unexpected visitor, even as he spoke.

"So it looks like I found you at last," Hunter J said.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hunter J," Ash said angrily, staring up at him. "How did you find us? And what do you want?"

"How I found you is none of your concern," J answered. "But what I want is that Pikachu of yours."

"What?" Ash said in surprise. "What do you want with Pikachu?"

"I have a client who is interested in his unique power," J said. "So we can possibly do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Well there's no way I'm giving up Pikachu any time son," Ash said.

("That's right,") Pikachu agreed.

"Always has to be the hard way," J said as she tossed a pokeball into the air. A burst of light shot forth and formed into her Draipion.

"Alright, Draipion," J said. "Go grab that Pikachu."

("Yes sir,") Draipion said as he began to advance forward.

"Hey hold on a sec.," Jessie said suddenly. "We came here to kidnap Pikachu ourselves. There's no way we're going to lose him to the likes of you."

"That's right," James said.

"Yeah what he said," Meowth said.

"You three again, huh?" J asked, smirking.

"You bet it's us," Jessie said. "Because we're just full of trouble."

"And to make it even better, we make it double," James added.

"With Meowth," Meowth said.

"An evil as old as the galaxy."

"Sent here to fulfill our destiny."

"Kidnapping pokemon is our game."

"And don't go thinking that we are lame."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Meowth. Now there's a name."

"Team Rocket, putting do-gooders in their place."

"We'll always be around."

"And in your face," all three finished.

"Wobbufet."

"Mime, mime."

"How pointless such your silly motto is," J smirked. "By the time you three finish, the people you terrorize will be half way gone."

"Pointless!? POINTLESS!?" Jessie snarled in anger. "No one ever insults our motto."

"That's right," James said. "We spent forever trying to come up with a motto that rhymes."

"Don't make me laugh," J said. "That motto barely had any rhyming in it."

"That's it," Jessie said. "We're not listening to you. Seviper, get that Draipion."

"You too, Carnivine," James commanded. Seviper and Carnivine lunged forward to attack. Draipion jumped out of the way, evading the attacks.

"Alright Seviper. Use your Haze," Jessie commanded.

"Bullet Seed!" James ordered. Carnivine launched his attack, hitting Draipion dead on. Seviper used Haze to cover up positions.

"Ash!" Brock said. "Now would be a perfect time to go."

"What about the gear?" Dawn asked.

"We'll come back for it later once the coast is clear," Brock said.

"Let's go," Ash said, starting to run the other way. However, he stopped short upon seeing the rest of the pokemon.

"I don't think so," Meowth said. "Do you think we'd be dumb enough to focus all our attention on one enemy?"

"Is that a trick question?" Brock asked.

"O.K.," Meowth said. "Maybe we've always done that, but today we're a bit smarter. Now Dustox. Use your Poison Sting. Cacnea, Pin Missile."

Dustox shout out another round of poison as Cacnea raised his arms and fired out needles from them.

"Piplup, Water Gun," Dawn ordered.

"Turtwig, Razor Leaf," Ash said.

Piplup shot out a stream of water while Turtwig sent out razor sharp leaves, both of which counteracted the attacks.

"Sudowoodo, Double Edge! " Brock commanded. Sudowoodo began charging at the two pokemon, but Wobbufet jumped in the way at last second and used his Counter attack, throwing Sudowoodo back some.

"Nice work," Meowth said.

("Thanks,") Wobbufet said.

"Darn," J said, seeing her Draipion being pushed back some. "Those weaklings actually have some power for once. Looks like I'll have to take it up a notch." J began reaching for another pokemon when he noticed Ash and the others some distance away, battling the rest of Team Rocket's pokemon.

"I can't let those kids escape. Salamence, stop them." J sent another pokeball into the air and released a large, blue dragon pokemon. The Salamence flew over Jessie and James and landed behind them and Ash and the others.

"What?" Ash said in confusion, turning around to see Salamence. "Oh great. Even more trouble. Buizel, you and Staravia take care of Salamence."

"You too, Croagunk," Brock said.

The three pokemon parted from the group and carefully watched the Salamence.

"All right, Salamence," J said. "Flame Thrower."

"Staravia, fly up," Ash said. "Buizel, water gun." Buizel shot out his own stream of water to match the Salamence's stream of fire.

"Alright Dustox and Cacnea," Meowth said. "Attack again."

("Poison Sting,") Dustox said, shooting out its poison stingers.

("Pin Missile,") Cacnea yelled, shooting out more pin missiles.

"Piplup, Whirl Pool," Dawn said. Piplup created a whirlpool and sent it forward, blocking out the Poison Sting.

("Razor Leaf,") Turtwig said, throwing more leafs out and counteracting the Pin Missile.

"Croagunk, Poison Jab," Brock yelled. Croagunk's paw glowed purple as he ran forward. Salamence saw this and flew up, breaking his fire attack.

"Gust!" J said. Salamence began flapping its wings, creating a powerful wind attack.

"Seviper, use your Poison Tail."

"Carnivine, Bite." Carnivine clamped onto Draipion who dodged Seviper. J growled in frustration.

"Alrigh, Pikachu," Ash said. "Hit Salamence with a Thunderbolt."

("You got it,") Pikachu said as he released an electric attack. Salamence dodged the bolt of lightning, but was hit from behind by Staravia's Peck attack.

"Not good," J said. "But no matter. I'm not here to win." J took out a gun from his holster and aimed it at Pikachu. J fired the trigger and a beam shot forth. Pikachu managed to see this coming as his attention was diverted to Jessie and James' yelling.

Pikachu leapt out of the way in the nick of time, dodging the beam which shot right in front of Buneary, turning the ground before her into stone.

"Careful Pikachu," Dawn said. "That almost hit Buneary."

("Whatever,") Pikachu said, paying more attention to J than anything else. Buneary was taken aback at his words.

(_"Does he not care what happens to me?"_) she thought.

"Alright, Pikachu, go take out Draipion," Ash said. "Chimchar, use Ember on Cacnea."

Chimchar spat out a small stream of fire at the cacti pokemon, only to have it deflected by Wobbufet's Mirror Coat.

"Ash," Brock said. "This isn't good. We're getting ourselves beaten today. We have to find a way out of here."

"I'm working on that," Ash said as he looked up to see Staravia trying to out fly Salamence. "Staravia, Wing Attack!" Staravia's wings began glowing. However, Salamence flew a bit faster and struck Staravia, his glowing wings fading as he fell to the ground.

"Staravia!" Ash cried out as he caught his falling pokemon. He turned to Buizel and ordered him to use his Aqua Jet. Buizel nodded and launched into the air in a jet of water.

Pikachu, meanwhile, was charging into the Haze to take out Draipion. Behind him, Buneary followed, though unknown to Pikachu.

(_"I mustn't let Pikachu get hurt,"_) Buneary thought.

"Carnivine," came James' voice. "Another round of Bullet Seed." Carnivine replied, launching out his Bullet Seed attack. Draipion dodged left, barely missing the Bullet Seed.

Buneary watched as the Bullet Seed was aiming straight towards Pikachu. Thinking quickly, Buneary tackled Pikachu to the ground yelling, ("Pikachu, look out.") Unfortunately, the Bullet Seed landed right in front of them, blasting them back a bit, out of the Haze.

("Pikachu, are you all right?") Buneary asked, helping him up.

("No thanks to you,") Pikachu replied angrily, recoiling his paw from hers. ("I had that situation under control.")

("I just wanted to help,") Buneary said, a bit surprised at his reaction.

("And look where it got me,") Pikachu said. ("You know, maybe if you focused more on practicing battling for your contests instead of always hanging around me all the time, you'd be much more better than you are now.")

("But I-") Buneary began before being interrupted.

("Why don't you just grow up, you dumb rabbit,") Pikachu yelled. Buneary's heart instantly ripped at those words, even as Pikachu turned around and ran back into the Haze. For once, Buneary's mind was at a blank. The one and only pokemon she loved broke her heart.

The Haze was starting to thin out a bit, making things a bit more clearer. Neither party was winning the battle as the fight continued. J was growing restless at the long draw out of the battle.

"Draipion," he said. "I've had enough of this. Finish these fools off with Hyper Beam."

("One Hyper Beam, ready to go,") Draipion said as he began charging one up.

"If that thing hits us, we're all doomed," Brock said.

"Then we'll fight fire with fire," Ash said. "Pikachu, Thunder! Chimchar, Flame Thrower! Buizel, Water Gun!"

"Piplup, Whirlpool," Dawn said. "Buneary, Ice Beam! Aibipom, Swift!"

"Carnivine, Bullet Seed," James commanded. "Cacnea, Pin Missile."

"Dustox, use your Poison Sting," Jessie said.

"Salamence, Flame Thrower yourself," J said.

All attacks given were charging up for one blow. Buneary, her heart still hurting, did as she was told. Then, all at the same time, all attacks were released, all aiming to one point. Time seemed to slow down suddenly as Wobbufet jumped into the middle of where all the attacks would meet.

("Mirror Coat!") he shouted, a force field covering his entire body. Everybody just stood there and stared. The pokemon attacking went wide-eyed at such a foolish move. All could only watch as every attack made contact with Wobbufet.

Surprisingly, not one single attack broke through. Instead, every attack bounced off Wobbufet and into the ground to everyone's horror. The next thing everyone knew, a bright flash of light shone form beneath them, followed by a large _KABOOM_!


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Ideas ran dry and it's hard thinking of where to continue. Hopefuly I'll start back up. And sorry about the error of Chapter 7. I forgot to save.**

Morning rose, leaving behind the night and starting a brand new day. Just about every place in the world would start waking up to yet another day unless one was in the woods. A pair of eyes opened up, staring and blinking in confusion. These eyes belonged to none other than Dawn. She felt pain rippling through her head and groaned as she tried rubbing it away.

"Man what happened last night?" she asked herself. "It's like I went to a party I can't even remember. Maybe Brock will know. He always knows what happens."

Dawn turned around to wake Brock and ask him her question. But, instead of seeing Brock and Ash, she found the red head Team Rocket girl lying nearby. It took Dawn a great while to register this, even when Jessie began stirring.

"What happened?" she asked before coming to a conclusion. "Oh tha twerp's Pikachu must have blasted us off again. One of these days I'm going to make him blast off with his very own pokemon against him."

Jessie then turned around and came face to face with Dawn. The two just stared at each other for what seemed to be hours before they both let out a loud scream.

--

"Oh!" Brock groaned as he began regaining consciousness. "My head. It hurts. That was one heck of an explosion last night. The funny part is, I can't even remember much of last night. Isn't that a laugh?"

Brock laughed hysterically at this strange, yet humorous talk among himself.

"Hey Ash, don't you think it's funny?"

"I would if I were Ash," a different voice said. Brock stopped laughing and turned about to find James lying on his side picking grass from the earth.

"Huh!?" Brock said in surprise. "Where're Ash and Dawn?" he demanded. "And where are our pokemon?"

"Beats me," James said, causing Brock to grab him by his collar and pull him up close to his face. James looked into Brock's angry as Brock spoke angrily.

"What did you do with my friends and pokemon?" he demanded. "If you had hurt them, I swear I'll make you pay."

"Calm down," James said, not taking Brock's threat seriously. "If I did anything to your friends, you would have known by now."

"Where are they!?" Brock growled.

"I don't know," James said. "I don't even know where my friends are, much less my pokemon."

"You're serious?" Brock asked, not quite believing him.

"Does it look like I'm trying to trick you?" James asked. Silence was all Brock had as he slowly loosened his grip and released James.

"So what do we do now?" Brock asked as James turned away.

"Well we have one of two options," James said. "We can either stay here or run away."

"Run away from what?" Brock asked as the answer suddenly leapt out from behind some bushes.

"That!" James cried as he began yelling.

"Oh," Brock said as he followed, the angry Ursarings chasing them.

--

From another part of the forest, Staravia was busy struggling to break free from his entrapment within the branches.

(_"Fine mess I've gotten myself into,"_) Staravia thought as he quit trying to free himself. (_I'm probably going to get mocked for getting stuck up here and then eventually rot to death."_)

("Need a hand?") a familiar voice asked. Staravia looked up to see a Dustox looking down upon him, smirking. Staravia knew all too well whom that Dustox belonged to.

(_"Or my opponent could just so happen to come along and end me,"_) Staravia thought. (_Or at least start the mockery."_)

("Hello,") Dustox said. ("Do you ned any help getting out?")

("Why would you care?") Staravia asked.

("Just because we're enemies doesn't mean I'm completely bad,") Dustox said. ("I'm being generous enough to free you from your entrapment.")

("Fine,") Staravia said. ("Just don't tell anyone else about this.")

("It's a deal,") Dustox said as he used his Psybeam to release Staravia. Staravia opened his wings to safely land on the ground, but his left wing acted up and Staravia landed with a crash.

("You all right?) Dustox asked.

("I think my wing's broken,") Staravia said, keeping it closed. ("That stupid Salamence struck me pretty hard.")

("Well I have an idea,") Dustox said. ("Stay right here. I'll be back in a hurry.")

Dustox flew off into the forest again, leaving Staravia by himself, hurt and alone.

--

Elsewhere, Turtwig was just waking up. His head felt a little woozy as his eyesight spun around.

("Please make the world stop spinning,") he said as he fell over again.

("You're funny,") someone said, causing Turtwig to turn his head and look at the speaker.

("Oh great,") Turtwig said, staring at Cacnea. ("It's you.")

("You're no picnic yourself,") Cacnea said. ("Out of all the pokemon I declare enemies that I get stuck with, I end up stuck with you.")

("Be lucky you did,") Turtwig said. ("I'm pretty good with surviving. So unless you want to wander around aimlessly until you're lost, you'd better follow me.")

("Like I have any other choice,") Cacnea grumbled as Turtwig began walking, his head clearing up.

--

("Why is it whenever I'm split from my master, I end up with either Aibipom or Chimchar!?") Piplup cried.

("Hey,") Chimchar said, trying to calm Piplup down. ("Don't look at it as a bad thing. Consider it as good.")

("And what is good about it?") Piplup asked. Chimchar was silent. ("I rest my case,") Piplup said with a smirk.

(Still, that was some explosion that happened last night,") Chimchar said. "I hope our trainers are all right.")

("I hope so too,") Piplup said. ("And there's still Team Rocket and that hunter we have to worry about running into.")

("Well if we do run into them, I'll take them out with my fire attacks,") Chimchar declared.

(_"I'm doomed,"_) Piplup thought sighing.

--

("Hey,") Buizel heard someone say. ("Wake up. Please be okay.")

Buizel slowly opened up his eyes, his vision coming into focus. He looked up at the being that was waking him to discover it as a vine plant.

("Oh,") Buizel said. ("It's only you.")

("Thank goodness you're awake,") Carnivine said. ("I've been trying to wake you for a while now.")

Buizel yawned and looked around.

("Say where is everyone?") he asked.

("I think we've been separated,") Carnivine said. ("I think it had something to do with that explosion.")

("Possibly so,") Buizel said.

("So what are we going to do?") Carnivine asked.

("Well it wouldn't do us much good by standing around here,") Buizel said as he began walking in a random direction.

("Do you know where you're going?") Carnivine asked.

("Not a clue,") Buizel replied. ("I'm just following what my instincts tell me.")

(_"I'm going to be lost for sure,"_) Carnivine thought as he followed Buizel.

--

("Pachi!") someone cried out. ("Pachi wake up! I'm scared!")

Pachirisu shrugged off the being trying to wake her and just continued to sleep.

("Pachi please wake up,") the voice said again.

("I just want to sleep,") Pachirisu muttered as she slowly opened her eyes. She immediately saw Happiny standing before her, frightened. ("Go play with Sudowoodo or someone,") Pachirisu said, closing her eyes again.

("But no one's here,") Happiny said. "You and I are the only ones around.")

("What!?") Pachirirsu said, her head snapping up and eyes awake. Pachirisu looked around wildly, seeing neither her trainer or her friends anywhere. ("Where are they?")

("I don't know,") Happiny answered. ("I woke up and they were all gone.")

("You don't think they abandoned us, do you?") Pachirisu asked.

("Abandoned?") Happiny asked.

("Left behind,") Pachirisu explained. This only got Happiny to start crying, which even got Pachirisu to crying as well. Their cries of fright echoed throughout the area, causing pokemon to scatter.

--

("Wow what a night,") Aibipom said. ("What happened anyhow?") Aibipom got up and started looking around ("Well this is odd. Wasn't I at a lake last night? Must have been blown away to some unknown location.")

She was busy looking around as she walked on that she didn't even notice a log on the ground until she tripped over it.

("Ouch!") she cried. ("Stupid log. Now I know why I hate forests.") Aibipom studied the log closer and realized that it was more than just a log. ("Hey, Sudowoodo. Wake up.")

(What?") Sudowoodo asked confused, looking up at Aibipom. ("What's going on?")

("That's what I want to know,") Aibipom said. ("Last night we were staying by that lake and now we're back out in the forest somewhere.")

("Well that's odd,") Sudowoodo said as he got up. ("But then again it's not the first time this happened to us. And it probably won't be the last.")

("So what do you think we should do?") Aibipom asked.

("Well sitting around here won't help us find our trainers any faster,") Sudowoodo said. ("And we definitely don't want to attract to much attention to ourselves. So let's go.")

The two pokemon picked a direction to travel and began walking in that direction, eager to find their trainers and friends.

--

Somewhere up high in the trees was a toad pokemon sitting on the widest branch that no one would ever see. Right next to him was the snake pokemon he called his enemy. Both were stuck high in a tree, a long ways up from the ground. The snake sighed as he looked down again for the tenth time that morning.

("Well this is a nice predicament we're in,") Seviper said. Croagunk said nothing.

("We're probably going to eventually starve up here and die of it or be eating,") Seviper said. Still Croagunk said nothing.

("And if it rains, we'll get soaking wet and then catch a cold and let it get worse and eventually die from it as well.") Still Croagunk said nothing.

("We'll probably remain up here forever. This stupid branch is probably strong enough to hold twenty pokemon. Maybe even more.") And still Coagunk remained silent.

("Say something you damn stupid toad!") Seviper yelled.

Finally, after enough talking, Croagunk turned his head to Seviper and asked, ("What were you saying?")

("GAAAAHHHHHH!") Seviper screamed as he began whamming his head upon the tree.

--

"Oh," came a moan that escaped his lips. "Why does my head hurt? It feels like I've gotten hit by a Machoke."

("Finally you're awake,") came a voice. Ash looked up to see Wobbufet standing nearby.

"Wobbufet!?" Ash said. "Where's Pikachu? And what have you done with my friends? And where's the rest of Team Rocket?"

("Beats me,") Wobbufet said with a shrug.

"You don't know where anyone is?" Ash asked.

("Not a clue,") Wobbufet said with a shake of his head.

"That's not good," Ash said as he cupped his hands and placed the over his mouth. "Pikachu! Dawn! Brock! Where are you?"

No one answered. All there was was silence. Ash lowered his hands and sighed depressingly.

"Oh man," he said. "Why do things like this have to happen?"

("There, there,") Wobbufet said, patting Ash on the back. Ash smiled just a bit.

"You know something Wobbufet," he said. "You're not that bad of a pokemon. Sure you may be Team Rocket's pokemon, but you're pretty good."

("Thanks,") Wobbufet said.

"Well, I have to find Pikachu and the others," Ash said. "And you have to find your friends too. I'm sure if we work together, we'll find them. Come on."

("I'm right behind you,") Wobbufet said as he followed Ash.

--

(Ash!") Pikachu yelled from wherever he was. ("Where are you?") Pikachu took a look at his surroundings and pondered at where was. He remembered very well what happened the previous night.

Hunter J attacked, wanting to capture him. But Pikachu managed to dodge the attack of being turned into a statue and went to take out J's Draipion. But Buneary tackled him into the path of a Bullet Seed attack. The mere thought made Pikachu angry.

("That stupid rabbit,") Pikachu said. ("She's always around me when I don't want her to. Why doesn't she hang around any one else like that? She makes me so sick when she does that to me.")

(_"But why am I thinking about her so much lately?"_)

--

"Oh man, what a blast off," Meowth said as he sat cross legged. "That was one of the most powerful explosions ever. But at least it wasn't Pikachu who blasted us off this time. Now I just have to figure out where I am and-"

Meowth stopped talking as the bushes nearby him began rustling. Freaking out, Meowth got up and trembled. He relaxed, however, as he saw it to be Buneary.

"Oh, it's just you," Meowth said cheerfully. Buneary remained silent as she just stared out into the open. Meowth noticed her expression and took a closer look. The only thing that Meowth noticed different about Buneary was that her eyes were halfway closed with no emotion in them whatsoever. Plus, she didn't seem frightened or confused at where she was. She had no emotion on her face.

"Hey," Meowth said, waving a paw in front of her. "Are you all right?"

"I have given up on trying," was her response. "If I'm not good enough for him, then I'm not good enough for anyone or anything."

Meowth blinked in surprise. What Buneary said made no sense. As he went to ask what she meant, his ears picked up a strange noise.

"What's that?" Meowth asked as he walked towards the sound. Behind him, Buneary followed , also curious as to what the noise was, though she didn't show it. Peeking around a tree, Meowth and Buneary stared at a huge plane. The ramp on the bottom was open and a guy in a strange suit was walking back and forth in front of the plane.

"Hey!" Meowth said. "I know who that thing belongs to. Hunter J."

"Excellent," Buneary said as she began walking straight towards it.

"What are you doing?" Meowth asked. "Get back here. He'll spot ya."

"If I can't get what I want, then they'll all know the pain of losing what they value most," was all Buneary said as Hunter J's henchman caught sight of her.


	8. Chapter 8

"_Uh no!_" Meowth thought, freezing in placing as he tried grabbing Buneary.

"Hey," the guy said. "Away from here. This area's strictly private for the moment.

("I'm not here to be a bother,") Buneary said as she walked up to the guy. ("I'm here for a strict reason.")

"I said away from here, " the guy yelled again, raising his foot to kick Buneary. Meowth took immediate action and ran up to Buneary.

"So sorry about her," Meowth said. "She doesn't quite know what she's doing."

"Huh!?" the guy said surprised as he paused, his foot still in the air. "Hey I know you. You're that talking Meowth."

Meowth froze in fear at his blunt error he made. "_Oh no!_" he thought. "_What have I done? Now I'll be captured again. And no one will be around to save me._"

"Well this must be my lucky day," the guy said. "Once I capture you, Hunter J will surely give me a special bonus."

"Wait," Meowth said. "I'm sure we can work something out."

"Oh yeah?" the guy asked seriously. "Like there's anything to talk about."

"Well I might not have anything to say, but she does," Meowth said, referring to the emotionless Buneary.

"And what would the wittle bunny have to say?" the guy mocked with a laugh.

("I'd like to join up with you,") Buneary said.

Meowth couldn't look more shocked than he was now. He wasn't even sure he heard his own ears or what she said.

"What's wrong?" the guy asked. "She said something?"

Meowth nodded his head in slow response before saying, "She says she wants to join with you."

"Join Hunter J in collecting rare and valuable pokemon?" the guy asked. "What could a weak pokemon such as yourself do?"

("Want to have a go at me?") Buneary asked. ("I'll whoop all your pokemon's butts. I can't guarantee that they'll be in perfect condition when I'm through with them though.")

Meowth translated what Buneary said, causing the guy to laugh.

"Oh that's a laugh," he said. "A bunny pokemon severely injuring my pokemon. Like that could ever happen."

("It will,") Buneary said, sounding so sure of herself.

Mewoth translated again which the guy replied.

"All right then," he said. "Let's just see how strong of a runt you really are." His hand reached for his belt to pull out a pokeball, but the sound of something huge diverted their attention.

Coming through the group of trees was the tank driven by Hunter J. Meowth gulped in fear, knowing he was doomed. Buneary remained her emotionless attitude while J's henchman just stood there, waiting for Hunter J to appear.

The tank stopped and the hatch opened up revealing Hunter J himself.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

--

"I think... we lost them," Brock said as he gasped for breath.

"Let's hope so," James wheezed. "I've been having to drag you all morning just to get away from them."

"Wait," Brock said, turning to him. "You saved me from becoming a meal from those Ursarings?"

"Don't bother thanking me," James said. "You probably wouldn't have done the same thing after all I've done to you."

"That's not true," Brock said.

"Then name one time you did something for me and my friends if I'm wrong," James said.

"What about that time we were stuck underwater in the S.S. Anne?" Brock asked. "We could have left you under to die, but we didn't."

"That's because you gave us the option," James said.

"Oh," Brock said. "Then how about the time you three got trapped underground with that doctor and I?"

"We had no choice but to follow if we wanted out," James replied.

"What about the time we helped you at that nursing place where you left your Chimeco?"

James pondered this thought as he reflected back. "You know," he said. "You're right. That is one thing you guys actually did for me."

"You see?" Brock asked. "We're not all that bad when helping others out. Even you guys."

James only stared and smiled at him as some bushes nearby rustled. The two froze in place, fearing that it may be the Ursarings. Finally, out of the bushes emerged...

--

("Ash!") Pikachu called out. ("Where are you?")

Pikachu walked aimlessly around, calling out for Ash's name. He knew not where any one was. He turned his head left and right as he walked, looking for anyone he could recognize.

He stopped suddenly, his ears picking up what seemed to be an all too familiar sound. Pikachu took off running towards the source, hoping to see someone. He rounded the trees and stopped to look up.

On one of the tree's branches sat a Staravia. Pikachu's hopes soared up upon seeing the Staravia, but immediately diminished when he saw a Pidgeotto land next to the Staravia, cuddling up next to him.

("_That definitely wasn't Staravia,_") Pikachu thought with a sad sigh.

He turned away and began walking in another aimless direction. Had he gone a bit further, he would have walked straight into the path of Sudowoodo and Aibipom.

--

("Do you have any idea where you are going?") Aibipom asked worriedly as they neared the spot Pikachu was moments before.

("Well I thought walking around might help us find our trainers,") Sudowoodo said. ("But I've never been in this forest before so I have no idea where I'm going.")

("_I should have known,_") Aibipom thought. ("So which way do you think we should go?")

Sudowoodo looked about for several minutes, pondering which way he wanted to go while Aibipom impatiently waited. Finally, after a while of thinking, Sudowoodo pointed to his right.

("This way,") he said as he turned right and began walking in that direction. Aibipom sighed and followed.

--

("_I wonder what all the commotion is about,_") Turtwig wondered as he followed all the pokemon to the bottom of a tree. Turtwig looked up, trying to look for whatever it was that was up there. Behind him stood Cacnea, also confused at what the commotion was about.

("Excuse me,") Turtwig said, grabbing the attention of a wild Oddish. ("What's all the commotion about?")

("There's a Croagunk and Seviper stuck up in that tree,") the Oddish replied. ("The Seviper's making quite a racket. But he sure does put on a good show with that Croagunk.")

("Hear that, Cacnea?") Turtwig asked. ("Looks like we just found our friends.")

("Yeah,") Cacnea said as he looked up. Turtwig looked up as well and then spotted Seviper and Croagunk. Apparently Seviper was busy screaming his head off at Croagunk who didn't even seem to hear him.

Turtwig chuckled at the sight. ("_The Oddish is right,_") he thought. (_"They do put on a good show._")

He was snapped back to reality by Cacnea's voice at that instant.

("Turtwig,") he said. ("Now that we found them, how are we going to get them down?")

Turtwig stared at Cacnea for a good few minutes before looking back up at Croagunk and Seviper.

("_That is a good question,_") he thought as the question itself was suddenly answered.


	9. Chapter 9

("I'm back,") Dustox said as he came flying over and landed next to Staravia.

("Took you long enough,") Staravia said. ("Where did you go?")

("To get this,") Dustox replied as he slid a vine down from his back.

("A vine?") Staravia questioned.

("The closest thing I could find to keep you from moving your wing so much,") Dustox said as Staravia used his unbroken wing to fling the vine over his back.

("Um, could you help me tie this thing?") Staravia asked as he stared at the vine, not sure how he could tie it.

("I don't have hands,") Dustox said.

("Well this is great,") Staravia said. ("How am I supposed to keep my wing from moving if I can't get this thing tied?")

("Maybe I can find someone who can help tie it,") Dustox said as he flew up into the air.

("And you didn't think of this while grabbing the vine?") Staravia asked.

("The thought didn't occur to me at the time,") Dustox replied. ("Just wait here. I'll be back.")

("What else is he going to forget?") Staravia asked himself as he watched Dustox disappear into the forest.

--

"Out of all the people I could have ended up with, I had to end up with you," Jessie growled at Dawn.

"You're no picnic yourself," Dawn remarked back.

Both Jessie and Dawn were sitting away from each other, backs toward each other. They both weren't happy with each other's company.

"Oh this is just great," Dawn said, sighing depressingly. "What if I can't get out of here? I'll miss out on all the contests. My mom will be watching and when she doesn't see me, she'll begin to worry. I'll probably be lost forever and die of hunger and-"

"Pull yourself together!" Jessie yelled, turning around at last. "We are not going to remain here for the rest of our lives. Surely someone will eventually come and find us."

"Like who?" Dawn asked curiously, her anger and worry vanishing.

"Oh I don't know," Jessie replied, blushing. "Maybe a handsome man who looks good and will carry me away to some unknown land where we will live happily together forever."

Dawn's eye twitched in disturbance as she stared at the starry eyed Jessie.

"_If only she did live in a fantasy world,_" she thought.

--

"("O.K.,") Pikachu said to himself. ("This is really weird. How the heck did I end up outside of the forest?")

Pikachu looked about the open field, surprise he made it to the forest's exit.

("_This is a problem though,_") he thought as folded his paws. ("_I could stay here and just wait for the others to eventually find their way out. But that could take forever. And besides, what if they find a different exit and are waiting for me there? But if I go back in, I might miss passing by somebody. A tough decision. I wonder what Ash would do in a situation like this._")

Pikachu thought for a while, deciding on what Ash would have done. His thoughts suddenly slipped away as they went back to the night Hunter J attacked. Pikachu replayed the scene of Buneary tackling him into the path of the Bullet Seed. Just what were her intentions of doing so? Was she trying to get him captured? Was she trying to injure him badly? And why in the world was he thinking of her so suddenly again?

Pikachu's face glowed red as he pondered over this last question.

("_What am I doing?_") he thought to himself. ("_Why do I have Buneary on mind so much lately? She's an annoying bunny. But if she's so annoying, why do I think of her more and more?_")

Pikachu's face couldn't be any more redder than it could as he kept thinking about all the other times she hung around him. The first time they met, Buneary was still wild. She spun around after beating Piplup and winked at him. He never did understand what that was all about.

Then she grabbed him and hopped away in a twirl after freezing everyone else with her Ice Beam. She seemed quite happy that she was with him. But then he yelled at her, which caused her to cry. But before that, he went to go battle her so that Ash could capture her for himself.

But the moment he landed to challenge, Buneary lifted up her fur over her face. Pikachu was completely confused to what she was doing even when she scooted over to him and leaned upon him. Then she lifted her fur over her face again as she laughed uncontrollably.

Pikachu scratched his head in irritation.

("_What am I doing?_") he thought to himself. ("_I should be thinking of Ash, not Buneary. This is driving me completely insane!_")

Pikachu's eyes suddenly lit up as he finally thought of something.

("I know,") he said, snapping his fingers. ("He'd send Staravia out to look for them while he waited here. But I don't have any one to send out looking. So what should I do?")

As he was thinking this, his ears picked up a strange noise. Pikachu looked around, alert, waiting for the unknown thing to make its appearance.

("_What's that noise?_") he wondered as he looked up into the sky.

--

("I'm tired,") Carnivine whined. ("Can we please stop and rest?")

("What's stopping you?") Buizel asked as he continued walking.

("You are,") Carnivine answered. ("We haven't stopped at all since we began walking. Besides, I'm hungry and I know you'll have to eventually stop to eat as well.")

("I can go a meal,") Buizel said as he walked on.

("You have no idea what it's like being on my master's team,") Carnivine said upsettingly.

("I'm sure I don't,") Buizel said without looking back.

("Well if you must know, there's barely any food to eat,") Carnivine said. ("My master is always having to fight with his friends over it while the rest of us starve.")

("Makes you wonder if you're even on the right side,") Buizel said as he walked on.

Carnivine glared at the still walking Buizel as he followed. Carnivine whipped back a vine to strike and sent it forward, whacking Buizel in the back of the head as hard as he could.

Buizel went flying forward and skidded along the ground, earning some nice scrapes. Carnivine huffed in anger.

("Maybe if you tried changing sides you'd see how it's like!") Carnivine yelled as Buizel slowly got up.

("You shouldn't have done that,") he said in a low growl.

("I think I should have and I did,") Carnivine remarked smugly. ("What are you going to do about it?")

("You should know something,") Buizel said, still keeping the low growl. ("I have a desire to always battle the toughest opponents. And I've never lost a battle.")

("Not even to Pikachu?") Carnivine asked, a bit afraid.

("Not even him,") Buizel said. ("Normally I show honor when I fight. But you just incurred my anger greatly. I will show you no mercy. So I hope you are ready to experience a lot of pain.")

Buizel then turned around. Carnivine stepped back in fear, staring into the anger of Buizel's eyes. Buizel activated his Water Jet attack and flew right at Carnivine who stood there immobilized in fear.

--

"Hunter J, sir," J's henchman said, saluting. "That talking Meowth has shown up with some Buneary."

"A talking Meowth!?" J said surprised, looking right over at Meowth who nervously said, "Hi."

J smiled as she pulled out a weird looking gun.

"So," he said. "You've finally left your pathetic friends to be sold, have you?"

"Not at all," Meowth replied, gulping in fear. "I was just with Buneary here and wes was just walking. That's all."

"The Buneary said she wants to join with you, sir," the henchman said. Meowth drooped his head.

"Oh?" J said, raising an eyebrow. "And what would she have to offer to help us?"

("My feminine charms,") Buneary replied, still in her emotionless tone.

Meowth busted out laughing before covering his mouth with his paws.

"What did she say?" the guy asked.

Struggling not to laugh, Meowth translated. The guy laughed out loud while J just stared at Buneary. Meowth couldn't help but joint he henchman in laughing as Buneary remained silent, waiting for some kind of response.

"That's not a bad idea," he said after a few minutes of thinking.

"Huh!?" both Meowth and J's henchman said in surprise, both their jaws hanging open.

"Using Buneary's feminine charms, we can easily catch any male pokemon that would be rare and/or valuable," J said. "Catching all the female pokemon would be hard though, since we don't have a good looking male to tag along."

"That's where I could come in," Meowth piped up, earning a look from J.

"Go on," he said.

"Well," Meowth said. "Imagine keeping me upon your team rather than auctioning me off. That way, you can get reports back from your pokemon through me. And I'm sure if you pamper me up to look like one cool Meowth, I could easily flock all the girls onto your ship. Together, Buneary and I will make capturing easy."

"An interesting idea," J said thoughtfully. "We'd have to work on you, but I before I allow you on, I need to test your strength. Go, Draipion."

J threw a pokeball into the air and out came Draipion.

"If you two should so happen to beat my Draipion, I will allow you to join with me and assist for the rest of your lives," J said.

("It's a deal,") Buneary said as she readied herself.

"_What am I getting myself into?_" Meowth thought as he nervously took a fighting stance.

"Draipion, begin with a Tackle," J demanded.

("Right,") Driapion said as he charged at the two pokemon.


	10. Chapter 10

("Huh!?") Mime Jr. said as he came walking out of the bushes. ("Oh hi guys.")

James and Brock anime fell in both relief and in surprise.

"Well at least it's not the Ursaring," Brock said. "That's a relief."

"Oh Mime Jr.!" James cried as he hugged his pokemon. "Thank goodness you're all right."

("Why wouldn't I be?") Mime Jr. asked.

"I'm just glad you're back with me," James said happily as happy tears streamed down his face.

("I'm glad you're all right too,") Mime Jr. said, copying James' tear flow.

"Now you can take a good rest," James said, returning Mime Jr. into his pokeball.

"Well that's one down," Brock said.

"But we still have the rest to find," James said. "So where do you suggest we start?"

Brock was about to answer until the group of Ursaring showed up again.

"Well, I guess we could start by running away," Brock said calmly. "Who knows, maybe this running will help us find the others faster."

"That may be a good plan," James said, also calm.

"On the count of three then?" Brock asked.

"Sounds good to me," James said as they both got up.

"THREE!" Brock yelled as he began running.

"What happened to one and two?" James asked as he followed.

"Like I'm going to take my time counting that long," Brock replied as the Ursaring gave chase.

--

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled out into the forest, calling out his buddy's name. "Where are you?"

Ash waited, listening and hoping to hear his friend's voice. But to no avail did he hear anything. He stopped and hung his head down, depressed and worried.

"Pikachu," he said quietly.

("What's the matter?") Wobbufet asked.

"Huh?" Ash asked surprised, completely forgetting that Wobbufet was right behind him.

("Everything alright?") Wobbufet asked.

"I'm sorry, Wobbufet," Ash said. "I don't mean to make you worry. It's just that it's a bit lonely without having Pikachu around. He's my best friend and if anything ever happened to him, I wouldn't know what to do. I wouldn't be able to go on without him."

("How long have you two been together?") Wobbufet asked.

"He's always helped me battle against tough opponents and always pulled through almost all the time," Ash went on. "He's very powerful."

("I know,") Wobbufet said.

"Of course, you should know," Ash said. "You've been blasted off many times because of him."

("That's right,") Wobbufet said.

"So now the question is which way do we go?" Ash asked.

("I think we should go back the way we came,") Wobbufet suggested.

"What do you think, Wobbufet?" Ash asked. "Which way do you think we should go?"

("Look up,") Wobbufet replied, pointing into the sky.

Ash looked in the direction Wobbufet was pointing and spotted dark clouds slowly making their way towards them.

"Uh oh," Ash said. "Looks like it's going to be fixing to rain pretty soon. Let's go back this way."

("Brilliant idea,") Wobbufet said as he followed Ash.

--

("I should have known following you would have gotten me lost,") Piplup groaned.

("And what's that supposed to mean?") Chimchar asked.

("I think you should know what it very well means,") Piplup yelled. ("Like trainer, like pokemon.")

("So you're blaming me on my trainer's lousy sense of ability of navigating?") Chimchar asked angrily.

("Check out the brains on you,") Piplup replied snobbishly.

("I don't take kindly to your smug talk,") CHimchar growled. ("So I would watch what you say if I were you.")

("I'm not frightened by your small threats,") Piplup said.

("Come again?") Chimchar asked. ("I don't think you get it. It ain't no threat.")

("Then why don't we let our actions speak for us?") Piplup suggested.

("Sounds like a good suggestion to me,") Chimchar said as he spat out a flame thrower at Piplup.

--

Turtwig blinked, not sure what just happened. One minute he was looking up in the tree, to which Seviper and Croagunk were sitting in. Then, suddenly, Seviper had just simply disappeared. It took Turtwig's mind a full minute to register what actually happened.

Turtwig lowered his head back to the ground to see the snake like pokemon on the ground, dazed from his fall.

("Someone explain to me why he jumped,") Turtwig asked, being that that was the only thing that came to mind.

("It looks to me like Seviper jumped,") Cacnea replied. ("But the fall shouldn't hurt him that badly. After all, we have been blasted off many times by Pikachu.")

("Oh,") was all Turtwig said. ("Well all that's left now is Croagunk.")

Turtwig and Cacnea both looked up as Seviper was getting up.

("Thought I'd never get away from him,") Seviper said.

("Hey, Croagunk!") Turtwig yelled. ("Come on down.")

Croagunk remained sitting up there, unmoving as he just stared forward.

("Does he even know he's in a tree?") Cacnea asked.

("Sometimes I never know,") Turtwig replied. ("Hey Croagunk, you know you're in a tree, right?")

Croagunk lowered his head until he spotted Turtwig.

("What?") he yelled down in question.

Tutwig, Cacnea, and Seviper all fell in anime style.

("I'd take that as a no,") Seviper said.

--

"Alright, Draipion. Use Shadow Ball!" J commanded.

Draipion formed a big, black ball in his mouth and spat it out at Meowth. Meowth roled out of the way of the attack as Buneary bounced high into the air.

"Shadow Ball again," J said.

Draipion looked up to see Buneary coming down upon him and began forming a Shadow Ball in his mouth. Suddenly, as he was about to fire, he felt one of his les buckle. The sheer force caused him to miss Buneary completely as Buneary slammed onto his back, completing her Bounce attack.

"Good job," Meowth said as Buneary landed.

("Kep your guard up,") was all Buneary said as Draipion slowly got up.

("That hurt,") he growled as he turned around. ("I'm going to enjoy beating you.")

("I think not,") Buneary said.

("Oh really?") Draipion said. ("I don't see you in any situation of beating me. I'm a lot bigger than you two, not to mention I'm more powerful and stronger.")

("Your over confidence will be your undoing,") Buneary said as she fired an Ice Beam.

"Protect," J said.

A green barrier surrounded Draipion as the Ice Beam hit. The beam did absolutely nothing but get absorb in the protective shield.

("Damn,") Buneary said, still in her emotionless tone.

"Now use Iron Tail," J said.

The green shield faded and Draipion's tail began glowing. He charged forward and raised his tail up. Buneary and Meowth both dodged the attack as it smashed the ground where they once stood.

Meowth was first to quickly make an attack. He slid before leaping at Draipion, his claws out.

"Why don't you try these on for size?" he said as he slashed Draipion, whose head was turning towards him.

Draipion felt the scratch make contact and he roared in pain.

"If you didn't like those, then you definitely won't like this," Meowth said as ran to Draipion's tail and bit it hard.

Draipion roared even louder at this, thrashing his tail about to get Meowth to let go.

"_Wow!_" Meowth thought. "_I never knew my teeth were that hard before._"

"Use Iron Tail again," J shouted.

Draipion's tail began glowing as he raised it up into the air.

"_Uh oh!_" Meowth thought as the tail was brought down.

But before it could make contact with the ground, Buneary seized her chance and used her Dizzy Punch to knock Draipion back. Draipion toppled over himself and crashed onto the ground. His tail whipped up in the air, causing Meowth to let go, tearing a piece of Draipion's flesh off, revealing a nice open wound.

Buneary fired an Ice Beam at the wound and froze Draipion's entire tail. Draipion yelled in agonizing pain as the cold touch of the Ice Beam burned his wound. Buneary fired her Ice Beam again, this time aiming at Draipion's head. She managed to freeze that part of his body.

Again and again she fired her Ice Beam at Draipion until Draipion was nothing but a huge block of ice.

"Draipion, use Hyper Beam," J shouted out. But nothing happened. J took out Draipion's pokeball yelling, "Draipion, return!"

A red beam of light shot forth and engulfed Draipion before Draipion himself became nothing but a red beam of light and was returned inside his pokeball.

"Impressive," J said with a smirk. "You've proven yourselves to be quiet more powerful than my Draipion."

"True power alone doesn't accomplish everything," Meowth said. "Sometimes it's best to work together to over come anything."

"And that's the kind of power I need from the both of you to help me," J said. "But my question to the both of you is just how far will you go?"

("I'll go all the way to show those whose pokemon will succumb to anything their hearts desire,") Buneary replied. ("And once they do, they'll realize the pain of their desires.")

Meowth translated this to J who laughed.

"So you're willing to break apart the bond between humans and pokemon to show them just how painful life can be?" he asked.

("The same kind of pain I went through at first,") Buneary said as she clutched at her chest. Though she remained emotionless, Meowth could tell she was hurting on the inside.

"What did she say?" J asked.

"Why don't I let you in on a secret," Meowth said. "You know that Pikachu that client of yours wants? Buneary here had a crush on tat Pikachu, but Pikachu crushed her heart. I don't know the whole story, but it helped Buneary realize that love may not seem what it always seemed."

"A very good reason to actually turn on them," J said. "But what about you? Just how far will you go into helping me?"

"Well," Meowth said, crossing his arms and lowering his head to think. "I may not like doing what you're good at doing. Not at first anyway. But maybe after a while, I'll get into the swing of things."

"A very good choice," J said. "Buneary, Meowth, welcome aboard. Come, we have hunting to do."

Buneary nodded as she followed J's henchman into the plane while J boarded the tank inside. Meowth sighed as he followed Buneary in.

"_Guess I have no choice but to serve,_" Meowth thought as he looked back at the forest before the hatch shut closed.

Moments later, J was seated in the main control room, Meowth and Buneary by his side as the plane rose off the ground and flew its way out from the forest.


	11. Chapter 11

("Nice time for her to take a nap,") Pachirisu grumbled angrily as she dragged Happiny along behind her. Happiny was peacefully sleeping, not seeming bothered by the dragging Pachirisu was doing.

Pachirisu glared back at Happiny, and just glared as she walked on, not even bothering to see where she was going. When she finally turned back around, Pachirisu walked right into something hard and rough.

She toppled over backwards and fell over Happiny who woke up immediately and gave a startled cry. Pachirisu gave an angry groan as she got up, her ears twitching irritably due to Happiny's cry.

Tyring to ignore the cries of Happiny, Pachirisu looked at what she had bumped into. She wasn't all that happy to see that it was a tree. She clutched her head, now earning a headache.

(_"What a day this is turning out to be,"_) she thought as she further looked up the tree.

What she saw in the tree made her realize just how hungry she was. She gave a small smile though as she turned and looked over at the still crying Happiny.

("Happiny,") Pachirisu said. ("How would you like something to eat?")

Happiny ceased crying and looked over at Pachirisu.

("Eat?") she questioned.

Pachirisu nodded.

("Yes,") Happiny replied.

("Wait right there,") Pachirisu said as she turned and ran up the tree.

Reaching the first branch she came to, she ran along it and stopped when she was underneath an apple that was hanging down within her reach. She pulle don the apple until it came off.

("Catch,") Pachirisu said as she threw the apple down to Happiny.

("Thanks, Pachi,") Happiny said as she hungrily began eating.

Pachirisu grabbed another nearby apple and ate that as fast as she could. Once she was finished, she threw the core away and looked down. It was then, she had realized, she was a lot further up than she had realized she had been. Pachirisu immediately clutched to the branch she was sitting on and trembled.

("What's wrong, Pachi?") Happiny asked.

("I'm scared,") Pachirisu replied, her voice trembling. ("I'm afraid of heights. Help!")

--

("See?") Sudowoodo said. ("I told you I knew where we were going.")

("Sure you did,") Aibipom said, rolling her eyes.

("Just be thankful I found our way back to the campsite,") Sudowoodo said. ("Now we can figure out where to go from here.")

("I think we should continue on the path we were traveling before that hunter appeared,") Aibipom said. ("Hopefully we'll find the way out from there.")

("So I take it you'll be the one leading now?") Sudowoodo asked.

("Let's go,") Aibipom said as she turned to walk off.

("Hold on,") Sudowoodo said. ("Let's pack up the stuff first. Then we can head out.")

("Fine,") Aibipom said. ("But you're carrying the stuff.")

("You do have four hands you know,") Sudowoodo pointed out. ("You can help carry some of this.")

("But you're a big strong man,") Aibipom whined. ("I'm just a weak girl.")

("Liar,") Sudowoodo mumbled.

("What was that?") Aibipom asked.

("I said for you to help pack up,") Sudowoodo said. ("The sooner we get this stuff together, the sooner we can get out of the forest.")

("Fine,") Aibipom said reluctantly as she helped Sudowoodo out.

--

"So how long have you been chasing Ash?" Dawn asked as she and Jessie walked aimlessly through the forest.

"You know I'm not really sure," Jessie replied. "I guess it's been almost a year or two now."

"So in other words, you don't know," Dawn concluded.

"No," Jessie replied. "Not a clue."

"Well why don't you go off and steal other pokemon rather than trying to catch Pikachu all the time?" Dawn asked. "I mean you always end up blasting off all the time, so why not just steal other people's pokemon and save yourself from being blasted off?"

"We have to have a hobby," Jessie replied. "We need a good challenge. Taking other people's pokemon is way too easy, but Pikachu's the hardest to catch ever since we met it."

"What did Pikachu do to you guys that caused you to set out and capture him?" Dawn asked.

"It has a lot more power than other Pikachus do," Jessie replied. "Especially with that Volt Tackle. Team Rocket needs that kind of power to try and rule the world."

"Ugh!" Dawn said in disgust. "What is it about people and trying to rule the world? Why do you think you can be so superior over everyone else?"

"What's with the sudden twenty questions?" Jessie asked herself. "You sure can be nosy."

"I guess you can say I'm curious," Dawn replied. "I don't know much about Ash's life and you seem to just constantly chase after him for his Pikachu. If I were you, I'd have quit a long time ago."

"Well we need a hobby," Jessie said. "Without us chasing after you, your pokemon probably wouldn't have gotten stronger like they are now."

"So in other words you help us even though you still remain bad," Dawn concluded.

"I guess you can say that," Jessie said with a shrug.

The two continued walking in silence, wondering what to say next when the screams of two people caused them to stop. Ahead of them, running in their direction, were two people they instantly recognized.

"It's Brock," Dawn said.

"And James," Jessie said.

"Hey guys," Dawn said as the two ran past them.

"Talk later!" Brcok yelled back to them.

"Run now!" James finished.

Confused, the two girls turned around in time to see a whole pack of angry Ursaring stampeding towards them. The girls screamed in terror and ran after Brock and James to escape the Ursaring.

--

Meowth shifted uncomfortably into a sitting position, feeling quite awkward at the silence in the plane. The only thing that filled the silence was the humming of the plane itself as it slowly flew over the sea of trees below them. It felt pretty weird for him serving someone new, especially in a completely different region.

Meowth glanced over towards Buneary who still had the same look upon her face when he ran into her earlier. No emotion was seen in her eyes. She wasn't frightened that she made a huge mistake, nor did she care. Meowth gulped, still not believing what he had done himself.

Here he was, in the presence of Hunter J, working for her to round in rare and valuable pokemon for J to auction off to other clients. His heart rate began racing as he began thinking of himself becoming someone entirely different. It did scare him. He liked who he was. But now he was working for Hunter J, and he was under her watchful eye.

One slip up of disobedience from her and he would immediately be auctioned off. And no amount of begging would get her to change her mind. Meowth's heart practically stopped when a ring sounded throughout the room.

He glanced up at Hunter J who had pressed a single button. Returning his eyes to the front, Meowth sighed with relief as a screen came sliding down. The room instantly darkened as a shadowy figure appeared on the screen.

"What's taking so long?" the figure asked. "Why don't I have my Pikachu yet? You promised me that I'd have the strongest Pikachu by today and yet here I stand, no Pikachu in my custody."

Meowth squinted his eyes, trying to see just who the speaker was. It was too dark to tell who it was, unfortunately, so he quit trying to see.

"There have been complications," J said. "Pikachu's trail has grown cold for the moment."

"Well I hope you find it soon," the figure said. "I want that Pikachu, whether you take it by force or not."

"Don't worry, J said. "I'll do everything in my power to find that Pikachu."

The figure nodded before the screen clicked off and slid back up. Meowth got up and walked over to the window to look out at the scenery below. He now saw that they were no longer over the forest, but outside of it, just arriving out over the exit.

Meowth went to go turn around and sit back down when his eyes suddenly caught of something yellow just disappearing out of the line of sight of the window. Meowth didn't need to do a double take to look to know just who that yellow thing was. Meowth ran towards Hunter J who was commanding her henchmen to land the ship.

"Wait!" he yelled, catching J's attention. "Don't land. I found Pikachu!"

"Where?" J demanded.

"Right behind us," Meowth yelled.

"Stop yelling," J said. "Men, we have found the Pikachu. This is a perfect opportunity. Once we land, we'll tired him out before capturing him. With Pikachu tired, he'll be too slow in dodging."

"Wait," Meowth said. "I have an even better idea rather than what you're thinking of."

"Oh?" J asked. "And what would that be?"

Meowth climbed up onto the arm of the chair J was sitting in and began whispering in her ear. J nodded several times, smirking as Meowth went on with his plan. Once he was finished, J got up.

"Meowth," she said. "That plan is brilliant. We'll definitely have Pikachu in no time at all."

"Thank you," Meowth said, saluting.

J turned and began walking, but turned back before she went walking into the next room.

"Buneary," she said. "Come with me. You'll be able to get your revenge a lot sooner than you think."

Buneary turned and followed J.

--

("Hunter J,") Pikachu growled as he watched the plane slowly fly over head of him.

("_This isn't good,_") he thought. ("_I'm directly below her. If she ever finds out I'm down here, I'm in trouble._")

Pikachu then began backing into the forest to keep himself hidden from plain sight. He watched as the plane slowly traveled its way over the field.

("_Please leave,_") Pikachu thought desperately as the plane took its time moving.

Pikachu continued to watch, waiting for J's plane to speed off suddenly and never be seen again, but it continued to move at the pace it was on. Pikachu began to grow impatient with just sitting there waiting.

Then, suddenly, something began happening. A robotic claw began sliding out from the back side, and to Pikachu's horror, Buneary was the one being held.

("Help me!") Buneary cried out. ("Somebody please help me!")

("Buneary!") Pikachu yelled in terror as he ran out form the forest.

("Pikachu!") Buneary cried, looking down to see Pikachu. ("Help me!")

It was then the plane began to pick up speed. Buneary continued her cries for help as the plane began leaving. Pikachu realized that J wanted him to follow.

("_Damn,_") Pikachu thought, biting his lip. ("_It's a trap. J wants me to rescue Buneary. But I can't leave without letting someone know where I am._")

Pikachu's heart was racing a mile a minute, seeing Buneary being taken away like this. His mind was frantic, not coming up with any ideas.

("I know,") Pikachu said suddenly, his eyes lighting up.

Pikachu turned towards the forest and began building electricity in his cheeks.

("Thunder Bolt!") Pikachu yelled, releasing his electric attack into the forest. ("_Hopefully someone will see the path it came from and wander out._")

Pikachu then turned around and began running after J's plane to rescue Buneary, his heart pounding like mad.

("_Hold on, Buneary,_") Pikachu thought. ("_I'm coming for you._")


	12. Chapter 12

("Well that should be the last of it,") Sudowoodo said as he shoved the last of the items into one of the backpacks. ("Do I really have to carry both of these?")

("I'll take whichever is lighter,") Aibipom replied.

("Well I guess you can take this one,") Sudowoodo said, handing the smaller backpack to Aibipom who grabbed it with her tails.

("So shall we continue on with the path we've been taking?") Sudowoodo asked. ("Or shall we go a different path?")

("Well,") Aibipom said. ("I did want to go the way we were going yesterday. But something's telling me not to.")

("Like what?") Sudowoodo asked.

("I'm not sure,") Aibipom said. ("But then again, it's probably nothing. Come on. Let's go.")

("Right behind you,") Sudowoodo said as Aibipom led the way.

--

The sound of rumbling could be heard from behind as Ash and Wobbufet continued to walk.

"Oh man," Ash said, sitting down so suddenly. "I need a break."

("What about the storm?") Wobbufet asked as he pointed towards the clouds.

"I know the storm is coming," Ash said. "I just need a quick break."

Ash and Wobbufet continued looking up towards the dark clouds, which were slowly traveling its way across the forest. Ash got up suddenly, brushing the dirt off his pants.

"Well come on," he said. "I want to be able to beat the storm before it hits. I'm hoping we can find shelter when it does."

("Hey!") someone suddenly yelled, grabbing Wobbufet's attention.

Wobbufet stopped and looked around, trying to recognize the voice calling to him. Ash continued walking, not knowing that Wobbufet wasn't with him.

("Hey!") Wobbufet yelled, grabbing Ash's attention.

"What's wrong, Wobbufet?" Ash asked as Wobbufet heard the voice again.

("Wobbufet!") came the voice. ("Over here.")

Wobbufet turned right and looked up. Flying towards them was a Dustox.

("Dustox,") Wobbufet said happily. ("You're all right!")

("Why wouldn't I be?") Dustox asked. ("I'm not going to let one little explosion finish me off easily.")

"Hey Dustox," Ash said a little nervously since he couldn't understand them that well. "You haven't happened to se any of my pokemon, have you?"

("I have,") Dustox replied with a nod.

"You have?" Ash asked hopefully.

("Of course,") Dustox said with another nod. ("Follow me.")

Dustox turned and flew away. Wobbufet followed. Ash looked up at the storm clouds, worrying that he wouldn't make it out in time before the storm hit.

"_Hopefully we'll find a way out before the storm hits,_" Ash thought as he followed the two pokemon.

--

"How did you end up in this mess?" Jessie yelled loudly to James.

"Would you believe we landed right in front of their cave?" James asked. "And they got angry for no reason."

"Why does almost every forest have an Ursaring in it?" Brock asked.

"You've been through this before?" Dawn asked.

"Once or twice," Brock replied.

"Well how do we get out of this mess?" Dawn asked.

"James," Brock said. "Why not use your Mime Jr.'s Teeter Dance?"

"A swell idea," James said as he grabbed out the pokeball that held Mime Jr. "Mime Jr., Teeter Dance."

Mime Jr. shot forth from the ball.

("Time to dance!") Mime Jr. said as he began dancing.

However, the Ursaring didn't seem to be stopping.

"Mime Jr.!" James yelled in terror as the Ursaring kept chasing.

Mime Jr. was about to be trampled over, and all everyone could do was watch, shocked, when suddenly, a bolt of lightning crossed right into the path of the Ursaring and paralyzed them.

The Ursaring all fell to the ground unconscious. The four just stood their, their mouths hanging open wide in surprise. Mime Jr. took a peek to see what was happening and fainted in a sigh of relief when he saw the unconscious Ursaring.

"Wh-What just happened?" Dawn asked. "Where did that lightning come from?"

"I'm not sure exactly," Brock said. "But I can take a guess."

"You can?" Jessie asked.

"First off, from the look of things, I'd have to say that the lightning looked like a Thunder Bolt attack," Brock said. "And if that Thunder Bolt wasn't strong enough to take out the Ursaring like it did, we would still be running, minus Mime Jr. with us."

"So you're saying that the Thunder Bolt came from some kind of powerful electric type?" James asked. "But from whom?"

"There are only three people I know who have a strong electric type," Brock replied. "Paul's Electabuzz, Gary's Electavine, and Ash's Pikachu. And since Gary and Paul are nowhere to be seen, that leaves us with Pikachu."

"So then where is he?" Dawn asked.

"If Pikachu were anywhere close to us, he would have shown himself already," Brock replied.

"So if Pikachu's not here, then that means he must have found a way out," Jessie said.

"Brilliant deduction, Jessie," Brock said as he began running down the path the Thunder Bolt came from. "Come on."

James returned his Mime Jr. before following. The four ran happily down the pathway to freedom, getting ever so closer to the way out when suddenly, James stopped, since he was a bit behind. To his right, he saw a big commotion going on over there.

"Hey you guys!" he yelled. "Come back. Something's going on over here."

Brock, Dawn, and Jessie all stopped and stared back at James who was motioning them to come back for a moment.

"What is it, James?" Jessie asked as she and the other two ran to him.

"Just look," James said, pointing to the commotion going on nearby.

"Jessie, Dawn, you two stay here for a sec.," Brock ordered. "James and I will check this out."

"O.K.," Jessie and Dawn said as James and Brock went to investigate.

"Hey look," James said, pointing into the crowd as he and Brock got closer. "It's Cacnea and Seviper."

"And Tuurtwig," Brock said.

Hearing their names, the three turned around to face the two trainers.

("Master!") Cacnea yelled with joy as he jumped up on James and hugged him. James fidgeted in pain due to the needles.

("Hi,") Turtwig said, turning to Brock.

"What's going on here?" Crock asked.

("Look up,") Turtwig replied, pointing.

Brock looked up, only to crash down to the ground.

("That was fun!") Croagunk croaked as he stood upon Brock.

Turtwig just stood there, his mouth hung opened as Seviper spotted Jessie and slithered quickly to her.

--

("Flame Thrower,") Chimchar yelled as he spat a stream of fire out at Piplup.

Piplup saws the attack coming and dodged to the side at last minutes, sending an array of bubbles at Chimchar. The bubbles knocked Chimchar back a few feet, but he quickly recovered.

Chimchar held out his arms as the tips of his paws glowed. Piplup knew that this was Chimchar's Scratch attack and prepared to counter with her Peck. Claws met beak as blow after blow was countered on each side.

("You stupid, smelly penguin,") Chimchar growled as the attacks met again.

("Dumb, clueless monkey,") Piplup shouted. "("Just because you think you're more stronger makes you think that you will win.")

("I will,") Chimchar said as he jumped back. Piplup fell over as Chimchar became engulfed in fire. ("Flame Wheel!")

Piplup just stared as the Flame Wheel got closer and closer. Finally, Piplup rolled to the side to avoid the attack. Chimchar kept on going, completely missing Piplup.

Chimchar continued to roll as he went right through some bushes, setting them on fire, and right into the path of an oncoming Aqua Jet.

--

("_I knew it,_") Pikachu thought as he stopped. ("_It was a trap after all._")

Hunter J's plane began landing, reeling in Buneary as she desperately screamed out for help. Pikachu's heart was pounding furiously as the plane had landed and the hatch was opening up.

Pikachu took a quick look at his surroundings. He was below a hilly slope and out on a cliff. Below, Pikachu could hear the sound of rushing water. Pikachu's cheeks sparked as Hunter J came walking down the path way alone.

"Hello, Pikachu," she said. "Glad of you to come all this way."

("Whatever plans you have for capturing me, I'm not going to go through with it,") Pikachu said as Buneary flashed across his mind again, speeding up his heart slightly.

There was a moment's pause as J remained silent before she smiled.

"Oh I think you will go through with it," she said. "Whether by your obedience or by force."

("How did you know what I just said?") Pikachu asked suspiciously.

Another moment's pause went by before J responded. "Why don't you take a look for yourself?" She stepped to the side.

("Why am I not surprised?") Pikachu said, rolling his eyes. ("Betrayal is always your strong suit, isn't it, Meowth?")

"You're in no position to be telling me off like tat, Pikachu," Meowth said. "I joined up with Hunter J in my own free will. And now I'm helping her catch you."

("Not going to happen,") Pikachu said. ("I'm only here for Buneary and then I'm leaving.")

"I don't think so," Meowth replied with a smirk. "If you want to get by us and rescue your precious Buneary, you're going to have to battle J's pokemon."

Meowth looked at J who nodded. Pikachu took position to attack as J threw up the first pokeball. In a burst of light, Salamence was out and flying about.

"Get ready, Salamence," J cautioned.

("Right,") Salamence said with a nod.

("Bring it,") Pikachu said as he rushed straight into battle


	13. Chapter 13

"We made it!" Dawn yelled happily as she jumped. "Oh thank goodness we're out of that ridiculous forest."

"Calm down, Dawn," Brock said as he followed out along with Jessie, James, and Turtwig. The others were all in their pokeballs resting. "We still have to travel back and grab our gear."

"But what if we get lost again?" Dawn asked.

"That's why we're going into the nearest town to get someone who knows the forest better than we do," Brock replied as he took out a small guide book.

As he was flipping through it, James was looking around. Jessie seemed to notice this.

"James, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know," James replied. "I feel like I'm missing something."

"Yeah," Jessie said, sharing the same feeling. "Now that you mention it, I feel like I'm missing something too."

"Me too," Dawn said before she realized it. "Hey I still don't have any of my pokemon."

"My Carnivine's missing," James said, snapping my fingers. "That's what I'm missing."

"My Dustox and Wobbufet are gone as well," Jessie said. "And Meowth."

"And where's Pikachu?" Dawn asked. "If his Thunder Bolt came from here, then where would he have gone?"

"He may have been in trouble," Brock said. "He might have been spotted by Hunter J and ran off to ditch her."

"So if that's the case, then we have go and find him," Dawn said worriedly.

"I wouldn't worry about Pikachu that much," Brock said. "Pikachu can take care of himself. He's a strong fighter."

"But then what about Ash?" Dawn asked. "Where do you think he is?"

"He's probably still lost in the forest," Brock said. "But I'm sure he's with Staravia and is on his way out even as we speak."

A rumbled from the sky suddenly grabbed everyone's attention. Looking up, they all saw that the sky was being covered with dark clouds.

"It looks like we're in for a storm," James said. "And I don't want to be the one standing out here when it's busy thundering and lightning out."

"Me neither," Jessie agreed.

"Me neither," Dawn said. "So what do we do, Brock? We just can't stand here in the rain to wait for all the others to come out."

"Well one of us has to be here in case Ash comes out," Brock said. "Otherwise he'll think we're still inside somewhere. So why don't you head to the nearest town and I'll meet up with you there later?"

"How far away is the nearest town?" Dawn asked.

"About a mile from here," Brock replied. "It's called Ever Lake Town. It's a small town nearby a beautiful lake. So get going. I promise I'll meet up with you there once everyone else has been found."

"I'll see you there," Dawn said as she turned to leave.

"Wait," James said. "Let me come. We're all in this together for the moment so let me make sure you get to the city safely."

"In those clothes?" Dawn asked.

"I'll have to change clothes real quick on the way," James said. "So let's go. And Brock, please make sure you Carnivine stays safe."

"I'll treat it as if it were my own," Brock said. "Now go."

Both James and Dawn nodded as they ran for the town, hoping to escape the rain.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?" Jessie asked as the thunder rumbled again.

"As long as it takes," Brock replied as the first rain drop fell upon his arm.

--

The rain was starting to pour as Ash followed Dustox and Wobbufet.

"Geez you two," he said. "Slow down."

("We're almost there,") Dustox said as he flew a little bit more ahead.

Ash could see something in the distance now, though he couldn't tell what ot was at first until he was a lot closer.

"Staravia!" Ash said happily.

The bird pokemon looked up, startled at first, but then smiled.

("Master!") he said, hopping to him, being careful as to not irritate his wing.

"Hey what happened Staravia?" Ash asked, concerned. "Is your wing hurt?"

Staravia nodded.

"That must have been when Hunter J's Salamence struck you," Ash said. "We have to find a way out of here. Dustox, you think you can go find the exit?"

("Sure thing,") Dustox replied as she took flight.

"Hurry back!" Ash yelled after her as the rain began to pour more heavily.

--

("What just happened?") Carnivine asked to no one in particular.

One moment he was standing still in fear as Buizel came at him with his Aqua Jet attack and the next moment a Flame Wheel came rolling right into its path, creating a cloud of steam.

("Is everyone all right?") Piplup asked as she came running into the steam.

("I think so,") came Chimchar's voice, sounding slightly dazed. ("Who hit me?")

("Chimchar, is that you?") a familiar voice asked.

("Buizel?") Chimchar asked. ("Are you O.K.?")

("I will be,") Buizel replied. ("I'm tough.")

("Thank goodness,") Piplup said, sighing with relief as the steam cleared

("What's Carnivine doing here?") Piplup asked.

("I got landed with him,") Buizel replied, glancing over to him. ("You got lucky being that Chimchar got into my path. Next time you annoy me, I won't be holding back.")

("Understood,") Carnivine said nervously as rain began to drizzle in.

("Oh great,") Chimchar said, holding his palm up to feel the rain. ("It's raining. I can't let my fire go out.")

A rumble of thunder reached their ears as they looked into the sky.

("We might want to find the exit as soon as possible,") Carnivine said, worried. "I don't like being out when it's storming.")

("So which way do we go?") Piplup asked. Of course, no one had an answer to give as they all stood there and thought as the rain began pouring down.

--

("Come on!") Happiny yelled into the tree. ("You can do it. Just jump.")

("I'm too scared,") Pachirisu whimpered. ("I'm too high up. I don't want to break my legs or anything.")

("Then climb down the tree slowly,") Happiny said.

("I can't,") Pachirisu said, clutching the tree limb she was on.

("Yes you can, Pachi,") Happiny said. ("You're going to have to come down sometime. It's starting to rain and I don't want to catch a cold being I'm so young. And besides, I'm afraid of lightning when I'm alone. Especially in the woods.")

("O.K,") Pachirisu said nervously as she began letting go of the limb. ("I'll give it a try.")

Pachirisu looked down at the ground, her legs shaking in terror at the thought of even jumping.

("Come on, Pachi!") Happiny said as the rain poured down more heavily. ("I'm getting soaked.")

Pachirisu breathed nervously as the rain drenched her fur. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

("_Here goes nothing,_") she thought as she leapt off the branch.

She felt herself falling through the air next instant, but all she saw was darkness all around.

("Pachi!") Happiny yelled. ("Open your eyes!")

Pachirisu immediately snapped them open to see herself mere inches from hitting the ground. She gave a loud scream as she neared the ground, her mind drawing blank on what she was supposed to do.

However, she stopped screaming the next moment as she landed in a pair of strong arms.

("What are you trying to fly?") came her rescuers voice.

("_I know that voice,_") Pachirisu thought as she turned and looked up at her rescuer.

--

"Salamence, Wing Attack!" Hunter J ordered.

Salamence's wings glowed white as he swept down to tackle Pikachu. Pikachu managed to dodge by leaping into the air and flipped right over his tail.

("Damn,") Salamence growled as his wings lost its glow.

("Thunder Bolt!") Pikachu yelled, firing off an electric attack.

Salamence managed to dodge by swooping upwards into the air. Pikachu stopped his attack and glared up at Salamence.

"Flame Thrower," J said.

Salamence let lose a stream of fire from his mouth, aiming for Pikachu. But Pikachu was too fast using his Quick Attack. The stream of fire scorched the place Pikachu was standing.

Pikachu was on the move as he continued using Quick Attack, leaping up right under Salamence and striking him with an Iron Tail right on his stomach. Salamence flew up, but was breathing heavily from the attack he received.

"You know," Meowth said to J. "Perhaps we shouldn't let this go on to much longer. We don't want to tire Pikachu out just yet."

"You're right," J said, not taking her eyes off the battle. "All right, Salamence. Let's wrap this up. Fly low and use Flame Thrower."

Salamence nodded as he dived down low and then flew towards Pikachu, releasing another stream of fire as he went.

Pikachu took evasive action and side stepped the attack as he rushed at Salamence, but Salamence followed Pikachu, still spitting out the Flame Thrower at him. Pikachu continued running around while Salamence kept on its tail with his flame thrower.

What Salamence didn't realize, however, was that Pikachu was closing in on him as he ran around in a circle. Once Pikachu was close enough, he leapt up onto Salamence's head, taking Salamence by surprise.

("Oh crap!") Salamence said as Pikachu's cheeks began sparking.

("Thunder!") he yelled, releasing off a very powerful Thunder attack.

Salamence roared in agony as electricity coursed through his body. Once Pikachu was done, Salamence slumped to the ground, unconscious and paralyzed.

Pikachu landed on the ground, twirling around three times before stopping and giggling to himself.

("_Hold on,_") he thought. ("_That's what Buneary does. So why am I copying off her?_")

"Salamence, return!" J said, returning her dragon pokemon.

"Very impressive, Pikachu," Meowth said. "You've done well to beat Salamence, but there is yet another pokemon you have to face."

("Let me guess,") Pikachu said. ("Drapion.")

"You wish," Meowth said. "Drapion's a bit busy recovering a wound I inflicted on him. So the pokemon you're going to fight is me."

("What!?") Pikachu said in surprise. ("You!?")

J looked over at Meowth, a bit surprised he would offer himself like that in Drapion's place.

Pikachu began laughing as he fell to the ground. ("Don't make me laugh,") he said in between gasps for air. ("You couldn't even beat an Onix if you tried.")

"Actually I did," Meowth said. "Remember when Togepi hatched?"

("Oh yeah,") Pikachu said, calming down from his laughter. ("Guess I forgot about that. But I'm surprised you managed to wound Drapion. So I guess I should congratulate you. But since we're about to fight, I don't think I will.")

"Well then why don't you come at me with everything you've got?" Meowth said. "I want to see just how well I match up to you."

("This will be over in three seconds,") Pikachu said as he released a Thunder Shock.

Meowth dodged it and ran at Pikachu, his claws out and ready to scratch. Pikachu saw this coming and broke off his Thunder Shock a little too late. Pikachu felt claws scratch his face.

("Ow!")Pikachu groaned, clutching his face. ("That hurt.")

He then fle Meowth's claws scrape along his stomach, causing Pikachu to grimace in pain. Again and again Meowth continued to swipe at Pikachu, giving him scratches all over his body.

J watched the battle, seeing Meowth's ferocious assault on Pikachu using claws. She stared up into the sky and noticed immediately that a storm was coming. The sound of thunder rumbled in the distance. It was only a matter of time before it reached them.

J returned her eyes to the battle. Pikachu had managed to head butt Meowth, causing him to stagger back, clutching at his head.

"That hurt," he said.

("Well this is going to hurt a lot more,") Pikachu said. ("Thunder Bolt!")

Pikachu released another electric attack, this time hitting Meowth and paralyzing him.

"Wow!" he said. "That was shocking."

Meowth slowly dragged himself back over to J's side before collapsing on his back.

("I have to admit,") Pikachu said. ("You got a bit more powerful since the last time you were in a battle.")

"Thanks, I guess," Meowth said.

("So, J,") Pikachu said. ("Being that you have no more pokemon to battle against me, I guess it's just you and me.")

Meowth translated to J who smirked.

"Not just yet, Pikachu," she said. "I still have one more pokemon to do battle with you."

("Well then bring it on,") Pikachu said, trying not to wince from the stinging of the scratches Meowth had given him. ("I'll take out anyone you throw at me.")

"You shouldn't have said that," Meowth said, translating to J who smirked even wider.

"So, you'll take out whoever I send out against you, am I right?" J asked. Pikachu nodded in response. "Well then let's see you take out this."

J turned to the ship and yelled in, "Come on out."

"This should be good to watch," Meowth said, smirking evilly.

Pikachu got down on all fours, preparing to release another Thunder attack when he froze in place. His heart stopped as well as his breathing as his eyes grew wide with surprise and confusion.

Coming out of J's plane was a tan bunny with fluff covering her lower half as well as her folded ears. Her face was emotionless, no anger, no fear, no nothing. Pikachu couldn't move. He didn't understand what was going on, but all he managed to spill out was one word.

("Buneary!?")


	14. Chapter 14

("Well we have to figure out which way we are going,") Carnivine said. ("We can't remain in here forever.")

("What if we do go one way and get ourselves lost even further?") Piplup asked. ("I don't think I could handle getting lost even further.")

("Hey don't worry,") Chimchar said, patting Piplup on the back. ("That won't happen.")

("How do you know?") Piplup asked.

Chimchar flinched, not really expecting that question. He thought for a minute, searching for an answer when he came up with one.

("Actually I don't,") he replied, grimacing. ("I'm just trying to keep you from having a panic attack.")

("Well it's not helping,") Piplup said.

("Hey Buizel,") Carnivine said. ("You gonna join the conversation any time soon?")

Chimchar and Piplup glanced over at their friend who was thoughtfully thinking at the moment, unaware of the situation happening.

("Hmmm,") he said, looking up. ("What's that?")

("What are you doing?") Chimchar asked.

("Trying to think of a way to get us out of here,") Buizel replied. ("If only we had someone who could fly.")

("Well do we have another plan?") Piplup asked as lightning flashed, followed by the loud rumble of thunder. ("Because I'm starting to freak out than I was moments ago.")

Buizel was looking around, meanwhile, obviously looking for something as the wind began to pick up, blowing the rain in one direction. Buizel then began walking around, the others watching

Buizel would walk a short distance, trying to find a path way that would lead out, bit would turn around so as to not leave sight of the others. The others grew restless as Buizel continued his search, but o no avail did he find any.

Buizel scratched his head, growing rather irritated that he couldn't find a way out. He huffed and turned around and stopped suddenly when something caught his eye.

He cautiously walked towards what he saw and gave a confused look at what he was looking at.

("_Odd,_") he thought. ("_Why are there Ursaring lying here in the middle of the forest?_")

Buizel suddenly froze as the Ursaring began to stir. Eyes opened and Buizel gulped as all eyes bore upon him.

--

("He's back!") Wobbufet shouted, pointing at Dustox as his came flapping her wings back towards the small group anxiously waiting for her.

"Dustox," Ash said. "Did you find the exit?"

("Sure did,") Dustox replied with a nod. ("Follow me!")

"All right!" Ash said happily as he and Wobbufet followed, Ash still carrying Staravia.

--

("I never knew that squirrels could fly!") Sudowoodo said, smiling to himself.

("I wasn't flying,") Pachirisu protested. ("I was falling.")

("Sure you were,") Sudowoodo said, snickering.

("I'm serious,") Pachirisu said angrily.

("Don't pay him any attention,") Ambipom said. ("He just loves to mess with others.")

("Isn't that what you do?") Sudowoodo asked.

("Whatever,") Ambipom said.

("Hey where'd Happiny go?") Pachirisu asked suddenly. ("She was here just a second ago.")

The three looked around anxiously for the missing Happiny, unable to find her when her voice spoke out.

("Hey!") they heard her yell. ("Over here!")

The trio all looked in one direction to see Happiny in front of a large tree waving. The trio sighed in relief as they walked over to her.

("Thank goodness,") Ambipom said. ("Never realized how much trouble she can be.")

("That's Happiny for you,") Sudowoodo said as Happiny yawned suddenly.

("I'm tired,") she said. ("I need a nap.")

The three fell down in anime style as Happiny shut her eyes and began napping.

("Guess I have to carry some extra luggage now,") Ambipom said, picking Happiny up in her arms.

("So how do we get out of here?") Pachirisu asked.

("Why don't we follow the path?") Sudowoodo suggested.

("What path?") Ambipom asked.

Sudowoodo pointed right behind the tree where a path way was seen and said, ("That pathway that Happiny must have found.")

("Do you think it will get us out of here?") Pachirisu asked.

("I hope so,") Sudowoodo said. ("I don't know how much more rain I can stand, me being a rock type and all.")

("So are we going left or right?") Ambipom asked. ("Because I'm wanting to go left.")

("Gut instincts are telling me to go right,") Sudowoodo said.

("Me too,") Pachirisu said.

("All right,") Ambopom said, rolling her eyes. ("We'll go right. Beats having to get lost by yourself.")

The three began traveling right, wondering where the path would lead them to.

--

"I don't like this," Brock said. "It's getting way too dark out."

"And I take it that that's a bad thing?" Jessie asked.

"It is," Brock replied. "If the others don't make it out soon, they're going to be trapped in the forest while it storms. And by the looks of it, I'd say it's going to be a bad one."

"So then what do we do?" Jessie asked. "We can't spend all night here."

"I know," Brock said. "But I'll have to if it comes down to it."

"What about me and Turtwig?" Jessie asked.

"I'll send the two of you to meet up with Dawn and James," Brock replied. "If I don't show up by morning, send out someone to come and get me."

"You would risk your life to make sure your friends are safe?" Jessie asked, surprised.

"I would," Brock replied dead serious as lightning flashed yet again, followed by the crash of thunder.

_"Wow!"_ Jessie thought_. "I don't think I'd have the guts to do that for my friends."_

Silence occurred all but the rain and the occasional rumble of thunder for quite some time. Finally after a long while, Brock spoke again.

"You should take Turtwig and go," he said as the area darkened.

"All right," Jessie said quietly. "Come on, let's go."

("O.K.,") Turtwig said, taking one more look towards Brock.

His face was stone serious as he stared into the forest, not bothered by the rain that drenched him. Turtwig sighed depressingly as he turned and began to follow Jessie.

Suddenly, a voice was heard.

"Hey!" it called out.

Turtwig stopped and turned around again. He looked right and left along the entrance to the forest, but didn't see anything.

("_I must be imagining things,_") he thought as he turned around to follow.

"Hey!" the voice came again, a little louder this time.

Turtwig stopped and turned around, looking wildly about.

("_I definitely heard something this time,_") he thought as his eyes stopped on a familiar figure. He and two other figures Turtwig knew were running right for Brock, but he didn't seem to notice.

("Ash!") Turtwig yelled happily as he ran towards his trainer.

"Turtwig!" Ash said happily as Turtwig jumped into Ash's free hand and felt the arm wrap him tight. Ash's familiar laughter rached his ears and Turtwig couldn't help but smile.

"Well what do you know," came Brock's voice, relieved. "You made it out."

"And I have Jessie's pokemon as well," Ash said.

"Hey Jessie!" Brock yelled out. "Come back. Your pokemon are back."

Like the speed of lightning, Jessie was back in a split second, tackling her Wobbufet to the ground.

"Oh Wobbufet!" she cried. "I thought I'd never see you again."

("Can't... breathe!") Wobbufet gasped as the hug tightened.

"And Dustox," Jessie said, releasing Wobbufet and hugging Dustox. "Dear Dustox, I'm glad you're all right."

"What happened to Staravia's wing?" Brock asked.

"It's still broken from Salamence's attack," Ash replied. "I need to get him to a Pokemon Center."

"Well I was about to send Jessie off to meet Dawn and James there," Brock told him.

"Dawn's safe!?" Ash asked happily. "And James?"

"Yes," Brock replied with a nod.

"And who else has come out?"

"I have Croagunk back, James has his Cacnea and Mime Jr., and Jessie has her Seviper," Brock replied.

"Has Pikachu come out yet?" Ash asked.

"I have my suspicions that Hunter J may have found Pikachu," Brock said.

Ash gasped, his eyes filled with worry.

"But I don't think there's no need to worry," Brock said. "Pikachu can take care of himself. I'm sure he's been able to dodge Hunter J and is somewhere safe."

"I hope so," Ash said.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but could we possibly talk somewhere where it's not raining?" Jessie asked.

"She's right," Brock replied. "We're standing out in the open already soaked. And Staravia's wing isn't going to get any better just staying here. So go with Jessie to the Pokemon Center in Ever Lake."

"I'm not leaving without you, Brock," Ash said.

"Staravia can't stay here," Brock argued at him.

Ash turned to Jessie then and said, "Jessie, take Staravia to the Pokemon Center. I'm going to need your Dustox to find the rest of the pokemon."

"Fair trade," Jessie said with a nod as she received Staravia. "Come on, you big blob. Let's go."

("Right behind you,") Wobbufet said as he and Jessie ran off for the town.

--

The rain was already starting to drizzle down as time seemed to resume, though Pikachu still couldn't believe what his eyes saw. Buneary was walking down the ramp that was a part of Hunter J's plane. She didn't seemed please to see him, nor angry, nor afraid. In fact, she seemed to have no emotion at all in her face.

Pikachu blinked as Buneary stopped at the edge of the ramp.

("Hello, Pikachu,") she said in her emotionless tone. ("I'd knew you'd come.")

Pikachu finally began breathing again, his heart racing a mile a minute.

("B-Buneary,") he said. ("What's going on? What are you doing?")

("I'm helping the world see just how much a pokemon will give in to desires,") Buneary replied.

("What are you talking about?") Pikachu asked.

("I guess I'll have to show you what I mean, you dumb rat,") Buneary said.

Pikachu flinched at these words, recalling these words that he used before.

("You do remember saying something like that, don't you, Pikachu?") Buneary asked.

("Buneary I-") Pikachu began, but was cut off.

("Now you probably realize how hurtful it was to me,") Buneary said coldly. ("But thanks to you, I finally opened my eyes to see just how much love can hurt.")

Pikachu clutched a paw to his chest while he bit down on his lower lip, trying hard not to break down in front of Buneary.

("See,") Buneary said without even smirking or having any smugness in her voice. ("Now you've realized a terrible mistake you made. But it's already too late to take anything back. The damage has been done. And you're going to pay for it.")

("Buneary, I-") Pikachu tried again, but was once again cut off.

("I'm done talking, Pikachu,") Buneary said. ("I think I've finally grown up, just like you wanted me to. I know you remember saying that to me as well.")

Pikachu winced, his ears drooping. He tried finding words to say, but nothing seemed to be coming out of his mouth.

("It's time to end this once and for all,") Buneary said, still in her calm, emotionless voice. ("It's time to fight.")

("I-I can't,") Pikachu said weakly. ("I'm not going to fight you Buneary.")

("That's your choice then,") Buneary said. ("But just so you know, I'm not holding anything back.")

Pikachu could only watch in fear as Buneary began running towards him. However, she suddenly took a huge hop and bounced into the air. Pikachu knew that Buneary was using her Bounce attack and could only remain frozen as Buneary came straight down right on top of him.


	15. Chapter 15

("Um, hi") Buizel said, raising up a paw into the air as a small wave. ("Are you guys all right?")

("Do we look it?") one of the Ursaring growled.

("I guess not,") Buizel replied. ("I don't mean to sound like a jerk or anything but I'm curious to know as to why you're all lying out in the middle of the woods while it's raining.")

("Well it wasn't raining moments ago,") the one Ursaring said. ("We were busy chasing these humans who landed right on top of us. We lost them a few times, but we ended up finding them again.")

("And how exactly did you end up lying about in the particular area?") Buizel asked.

("Last thing I remember, I felt a surge of electricity course through my body,") the Ursaring said, rubbing his head.

("Surge of electricity!?") Buizel said, eyes filling with hope.

("Yeah,") the Ursaring replied.

("Which direction did it come from?")

("I remember being hit upon my right side,") the Ursaring replied. ("So I would say it came from that direction.")

He raised a claw and pointed out to the right.

("Thanks!") Buizel said as the Ursaring turned around and walked off.

("No problem,") the Ursaring said as he and his group left.

("Buizel!") came the cry of Piplup's voice. ("Are you O.K.?")

("I sure am,") Buizel replied happily. ("I just found our way out of here, I hope.")

("Oh thank goodness,") Carnivine said, sighing with relief.

("Follow me,") Buizel said as he rushed off in the direction the Ursaring told him where he and his clan were hit. The other three followed behind, hoping that they would shortly be free from the forest.

--

"Brock," Ash said. "It's getting way too dark out. I don't think we should stay here any longer. We'll catch a cold."

"You go on ahead without me," Brock said. "I'll wait until the rest of the pokemon come out."

"Well I'm not leaving without you," Ash said. "I'm sure the pokemon have found some shelter by now. There's nothing more we can do."

Brock growled, hesitation on which choice to make. He knew Ash was right, but it wasn't in his heart just to leave in case they all came out. Besides, he could already feel the chills of the cold air and rain mixed together bringing on a cold.

"Alright," he said with a sigh at last. "We'll go."

As he was turning around to leave, both he and Ash managed to hear a voice yell out.

("Hey guys!") came Dustox's voice. ("Guess who I found?")

"Sudowoodo!" Brock said happily as he stared at the four pokeomn walking out from the forest. "Happiny!"

"They made it!" Ash said. "And Ambipom and Pachirisu are with them too."

("Thank goodness,") Sudowoodo said, setting down Brock's backpack.

"Hey they have our stuff," Brock said as Sudowoodo walked over to Brock and tapped on his pokeball.

("Warmth at last!") he said happily as he disappeared into the ball.

"Good idea," Brock mumbled as he pulled out Happiny's pokeball and returned her as well.

("At least this lightens my load,") Ambipm said as she handed Ash his backpack.

"So how many more are missing?" Ash asked.

"There's still Buizel, Chimchar, Piplup, and Buneary to worry about," Brock answered him. "Not to mention Carnivine and Meowth."

("I se something,") Dustox said, staring back into the woods.

"What is it, Dustox?" Ash asked. "What do you see?"

The answer came a moment later as four pokemon came running out towards them.

"Buizel! Chimchar!" Ash laughed happily. "You're all right."

("I will be once I'm back in my ball,") Chimchar said as he ran around, trying to keep his tail from going out. But the rain kept coming.

"Ash, return Chimchar now," Brock told him.

"Right," Ash said, returning Chimchar, followed by Buziel.

("Where's my master?") Carnivine asked.

("I think he's over at some city,") Dustox told him.

"All we're missing are Buneary and Meowth," Ash said. "Where do you think they are?"

"I'm not sure," Brock said, uncertainty in his voice. "They would have been coming out right about now possibly."

"Do you think they got lost?" Ash asked.

"I doubt it," Brock replied. "I hate to believe in my suspicions, but what if there was another reason Pikachu ran off after sending out his Thunder Bolt?"

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, not getting what Brock was saying.

"I mean that Pikachu may have ran off not to hide from Hunter J, but because of another reason," Brock said. "What if J managed to catch Buneary and Meowth somehow and use them as bait to get Pikachu?"

"Pikachu will find a way to save them and get away from J," Ash said angrily.

"I doubt it," Brock said.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"I'll explain another time," Brock said. " I just hope my beliefs aren't true. But let's get over to the Center. We're going to catch pneumonia if we stay here any longer."

"All right," Ash said, turning to the other pokemon that were still out. "Let's go."

("Right,") they all said as they followed the trainers all the way to the town.

However, from behind, someone came walking out from the forest as well. The mysterious being looked up into the rain, sighing depressingly as it began dragging its feet.

However, it managed to look up suddenly and spotted Ash, Brock and the rest of the pokemon in the distance, running from the forest.

("I found them!") the being said happily, its mood cheering up instantly. ("I found them at last! Now I can do what I always wanted to do!")

And with that, the being took off running, following the others off towards the town.

--

Pikachu still couldn't believe what was happening, even though it actually was. There he was, on all fours, staring up at the rabbit pokemon as she came closer and closer to him, ready to cause some major pain to him from her Bounce attack. Her face was still emotionless, with no joy showing or that of revenge. Just a continuous frown and dead eyes to show.

Pikachu finally snapped back to reality and took evasive action by dodging at last second. Though the attack didn't quite get him, the shockwaves of the ground cracking did. Pikachu flew into the air, unable to do anything more as Buneary immediately jumped up and dropkicked him in the gut.

Pikachu fell to the ground, sliding several feet back as Buneary landed gracefully.

Pikachu struggled getting up, the pain really doing a bit of damage, but he knew he was a lot tougher than that. But he still tell why it was so much harder for him to get up like all the other times he got up without any difficulty.

("_What's wrong with me?_") Pikachu wondered to himself. ("_I can just about beat anybody in this world. But when it comes to fighting Buneary, I can't bring myself to fight back. Why is that?_")

Pikachu got up in time to see Buneary already charging at him, her ears starting to thrust back and forth, like they were punching someone. Pikachu was too slow to dodge the attack and got himself pounded.

Once the attack stop, Pikachu had difficulty trying to focus on where to look. But Buneary wasn't done just yet. She leapt forward, head butting Piakchu before delivering an upper cut with her fist, knocking Pikachu back into the side of J's plane.

Pikachu smacked hard into it, falling off and crashing hard into the ground by Buneary's Bounce again. Pikachu yelled in pain, feeling too much pressure squeezing the air out of him.

Buneary bounced off and Pikachu gasped for breath, but only got in one deep breath before Buneary came at Pikachu again, pounding her ears against him, a lot more viciously than before.

By the time she was done, Pikachu was severely bruised. His left eye was half-way shut, his body trembled with agonizing pain, blood was seeping out from his nose, and his insides were twisted with pain, his heart throbbing more painfully than any other part of his body.

"Amazing!" J whispered silently while she watched.

__

"Whoa!"

Meowth thought surprised, sitting up.

_"She ain't holding nothing back. With the power she has, she could literally kill Pikachu. Hope J turns Pikachu to stone before that happens."_

("B-B-Buneary!") Pikachu cried out, the pain too much for him to bear as he struggled hard to get up.

("Pathetic,") Buneary said. ("I was hoping for more of a challenge. But I guess being betrayed by your most closest friends can hurt, can't it, Pikachu?")

Tears were welling up in Pikachu's eyes and he couldn't help but let them stream down his face. Even as he stood up straight his heart ached more painfully.

("_I have to find a way to break Buneary out of her trance,_") Pikachu thought. (_"But how do I do that?"_)

("Buneary, I-")

("It's time to wrap this up,") Buneary said as the rain began to pour down more heavily.

Pikachu gasped for breath to enter his lungs, but the pain was hurting so much that even trying to breath made it very difficult. Memories began flashing across Pikachu's mind as Buneary launched out an Ice Beam, encasing his right foot in ice.

Again the entire memory of meeting Buneary the first time, how she did little victory dances and winked at him, her freezing almost everyone in her Ice Beam and twirling away with him, him yelling at her and then having to rescue her from Team Rocket's clutches, all this played again in his head as Buneary fired another Ice Beam at him, this time encasing his left paw in ice.

The memories didn't stop there, however. The memory of the time he was separated from everyone in that crazy maze and how he found Buneary and Happiny arguing with each other flashed through his mind He remembered grabbing Buneary's paw after getting Happiny and how she tackled him with a hug.

Again Buneary fired out another Ice Beam, this time encasing Pikachu's right ear in ice. The burning of the ice caused Pikachu to wince in even more pain as he tried hard not to cry out, grinding his teeth to endure the pain.

The tears continued to spill and his heart continued to throb painfully as his mind flashed to the time right after Ash captured Chimchar and won the tournament. Chimchar was just starting to get used to the life style he and everyone else were accustomed to. And during that night, Pikachu thought he dreamed of Buneary holding him in her sleep.

He hadn't realized that it wasn't just a dream and things suddenly began to make sense. The aching of his heart died down and began beating like crazy, not from the pain, but from another feeling he was feeling at last.

Buneary, yet again, fired off another Ice Beam, this time from a different position she was standing in, encasing Pikachu's tail in ice. The ice stung upon his wounds, causing Pikachu to clench his free paw and seethe through his teeth the pain that was so desperately trying to break free.

The pain eventually died down as Buneary walked back to the last place she stood before. For the first time ever, Pikachu felt completely weak. He could feel the rain pouring down upon him, agitating the wounds inflicted upon him. The cold rain easily covered up the flow of warm tears that were rolling down his face.

He glanced up, seeing Buneary standing there, still emotionless. From behind her, several feet away, Hunter J stood there, her hands behind her back. Pikachu needn't bother to wonder what her expression was to know that she was smiling triumphantly at how close she was to receiving her long term goal at last.

Several feet from J, sitting opposite from her, Meowth was staring at him, his eyes wide with surprise. No words Meowth could think of could break the silence of the event happening.

Pikachu turned his head to the right, breathing heavily as he turned his eye as far behind him as he could to stare at the edge of the cliff he was feet away from before turning his head back forward.

("So how does it feel, Pikachu?") Buneary asked. ("How does it feel to actually fail in an attempt to rescue me only to discover that you're the one who needs the rescuing?")

Pikachu remained silent for quite a while, thinking of the right words to say as lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a boom of thunder. Finally, Pikachu spoke.

("I guess that I feel that I deserve this,") Pikachu replied. ("I didn't give you enough attention like I should have and maybe this is the only way to pay for the consequences for what I have done.")

Surprise flickered across Buneary's face, obviously not expecting Pikachu to say what he said. She more imagined along the lines of him begging for her to forgive him, but to no avail would it have worked against her.

Buneary quickly shook her head and regained her emotionless state. Inside, Pikachu's heart leaped with victory. He only had one move left to play, a move he knew that would cost him dearly.

("Well now you see things more clearly now, then,") Buneary said in her emotionless tone.

("I do,") Pikachu said. ("I've finally realized the feelings I should have put first. If only I had realized this sooner, I would have done absolutely anything for you, Buneary.")

("Huh!?") Buneary said, her eyes now filled with confusion as Pikachu took a small step back.

("Wh-What are you talking about?") she asked, her emotionless voice starting to crack.

Pikachu smiled as he took another small step back.

("I'm talking about the feelings I never had towards you,") Pikachu replied. ("I now fully understand what it means. If only I could take a step back into time, I would do things differently, just for you.")

As Pikachu spoke, Buneary's eyes suddenly began growing with realization at what he was talking about. She gasped as her paws flew to her mouth, words unable to speak through.

"What's going on?" Hunter J asked, worried about the situation going on between the two pokemon. "Why are they just standing there? Meowth, what's going on?"

Meowth continued to sit there, surprised himself at what the two were doing.

"Meowth!" J yelled snapping him back to reality.

"Ma'am?" he asked.

"What are Pikachu and Buneary doing?"

Meowth turned back to stare at the two, wondering what answer to give her. Not really wanting to be turned into a statue again, Meowth decided to give the truth, even though it would hurt.

"Pikachu's snapping Buneary out of her emotionless state," he replied with a sigh.

"No!" J cried as she turned towards the inside of the plane. "Men, grab Buneary and Pikachu."

Pikachu must have heard this, for his unfrozen ear pricked up. Meowth saw him glance over to him for a second before returning his attention to Buneary. He smiled sadly as he took another step back, something that J had not noticed.

("Buneary,") Pikachu spoke. ("I'm truly sorry if I had hurt you this bad. I hope to fix things between us someday. But for now, obey Hunter J and get back to Dawn and the others. I'm sorry.")

("Pikachu,") Buneary cried, her body shaking.

Pikachu gave a small smile as he took one last step backwards. J's henchmen were already running out from the plane, rushing toward the two pokemon. However, they all stopped and stared in shock as Pikachu suddenly leapt backwards, right over the edge of the cliff.

("Pikachu!") Buneary screamed in terror.

As fast as lightning, she leapt forward, sliding along the ground and grabbing a hold of Pikachu's unfrozen arm. Buneary sighed in relief, tears streaming down her face, though covered by the rain.

Pikachu looked up at her, smiling that warm smile she loved. Her heart beat in total happiness that she was holding onto the pokemon she loved, hanging high above the rushing river below with sharp rocks by the cliff at the bottom.

("I knew you still felt the same way,") Pikachu said.

("Pikachu,") Buneary whispered. ("I'm so sorry. You must think I'm a horrible pokemon for putting you through all this.")

("Not at all,") Pikachu said. ("I understand why you did it. I never paid any attention to you. I just pushed you away when all you were trying to do was show me your feelings. I'm the one in the wrong.")

"Grab them," Hunter J yelled. "Don't let them drop over the edge."

("I'm here, Pikachu,") Buneary cried. ("I'm not going to let you go.")

("I'm not going to be put on auction,") Pikachu said. ("Take care.")

("Don't talk like that,") Buneary said. ("We're going to get out of this together somehow.")

Pikachu only looked up at Buneary, smiling sadly as he said, ("I love you, Buneary") and yanked his paw from hers, plummeting to the sharp rocks below.

("Pikachu!") Buneary cried out, preparing to dive in after him.

However, a pair of big strong arms grabbed her and lifted her away from the edge of the cliff. Buneary struggled to break free to jump in after him ,but the par of arms were too strong for her. She never even saw him crash down. She only saw him fall before she was taken from the edge.

("PIkachu") she yelled, squirming to be free. ("Pikachu!")

Hunter J was by the cliff's edge, staring down in anger, growling. She turned around and stormed back to the plane.

"We're heading downstream," she said. "If Pikachu had managed to survive dodging the rocks, then he'll be somewhere down river where the current slows to a stop. Let's go."

"Yes ma'am!" the men said as they boarded into the plane. Meowth stopped to take one sad look back at where Pikachu was before turning around and going in as well. The man holding Buneary remained his grip on Buneary as the ramp closed up.

With one last desperate yell, Buneary wailed out,

("PIKACHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!")


	16. Chapter 16

Something coursed through his entire body, something like a piece of him was suddenly broken off, chipped away, yanked away from him. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling. It was the opposite. A most very horrifying feeling. A horrifying feeling that felt wrong, like something bad just happened. But what was it?

"Hey Ash, you all right?" someone asked him, though he couldn't tell if the voice was real or not, let alone whether it was directed at him.

All he could think about was this bad feeling that he just felt. It felt like the loss of something he couldn't quite comprehend, couldn't understand. But it couldn't be, could it? Could it be someone he had known for all his life suddenly just have been defeated? Stopped in his tracks? Was it his life that was in danger? He couldn't tell. All he knew was that something bad had happened, and he believed he knew what it was.

"Hello, Ash," the voice came again. "Earth to Ash. Are you home?"

It had to be him that the voice was talking to. It had to be. He didn't know any other person by the name of Ash.

"Ash, answer me," the voice said again, now angry. "Are you all right?"

He felt something grip his collar and pull him forward hard, snapping him out of the feeling he was feeling.

"Huh?" he said in confusion. "What?"

"What's going on, Ash?" asked Brock, whom Ash remembered was his friend. "Why did you just stop so suddenly?"

"I don't know," Ash answered him. "I thought I felt something. Bad. A bad feeling that coursed that just shot through me just now."

"A bad feeling?" Brock asked, confused. "What kind of bad feeling?"

"I don't know," Ash said again. "It kind of like something bad just happened to Pikachu. But I don't know what."

Brock was silent, for he knew what Ash was talking about. He heard it a million times before from him and never will forget it. Pikachu was the lightning mouse pokemon who has been Ash's first pokemon he had received to begin his quest as a Pokemon Master.

At first, Pikachu disliked Ash and always kept on disobeying him. But after seeing Ash risking his life to save him from an angry flock of bird pokemon, known as Spearow, Pikachu began trusting Ash and in the end, fried the Spearow with a powerful lightning attack. Since then, Ash and Pikachu became inseparable. They were more than just buddies. They were closest friends.

Returning his attention back to the present, Brock slowly released his grip, all anger faded and concern taking over. Earlier, he had known Pikachu was in trouble, not being around where his Thunder Bolt had come from. Brock concluded that Hunter J was still after Pikachu and that he had to go off and take cover.

But now, hearing through Ash that a bad feeling had passed through him, Brock's concern was slowly treading to a possible fear that Pikachu might have been captured. But he refused to believe it, even though Ash said something had happened to Pikachu.

Breaking the silence, Brock said, "Well, whatever danger he's in, let's just hope he can himself out and stall some time. I can see the lights of Ever Lake from here. Let's get to the Pokemon Center and strategize there."

"O.K.," Ash said, staring up into the sky as a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky, followed by the loud rumble of thunder.

"Pikachu," he whispered out loud. "Please be O.K."

Ash then turned his attention back to the path he was heading in and followed Brock and the other pokemon to the town where Dawn would be waiting. He could only hope that Pikachu would be all right for the time being.

--

It was quiet, way too quiet for her taste. There was barely any sound in the room except for the occasional ticking of the clock on the wall and the pelting of rain upon the building.

She sighed, turning her attention to the window and staring out into it. It was dark outside and there were large pools of puddles all about, the rain filling them. It had been several hours since she left the forest and now here she was, worrying whether her comrades, her friends and pokemon, would ever show up.

Dawn turned her head and glanced over at the other two who were with her. James, the lavender haired guy, was sitting in a chair, his eyes shut but not really asleep. He was mainly just resting them.

The red hair girl Jessie, was sitting at a nearby table, drumming her fingers upon the table, bored. Dawn watched as Jessie looked over towards the door. Dawn glanced over towards the door as well, waiting, hoping, that at any second, her pokemon and friends will come running through, soaking wet but otherwise all right.

Lightning flashed frrm outside and the rumble of thunder sounded, a bit muffled from hearing indoors. Dawn wondered if they hadn't all made from out of the woods and might be camping out under trees, all scattered from one another.

She wanted to go back. She would have too, but she probably would have become lost and catch a cold. She sighed again as she turned her attention back to the window she was staring out of when a few short dings went off.

Dawn immediately turned towards a set of doors as they opened up. Out came a nurse, wearing a white nurses dress with a skirt, white shoes, and a white hat with a red cross on it in the middle. Her hair was a red orange and styled in loops.

Behind the woman came a round, pink creature with something round sticking out from its pouch. It, too, wore the same hat the woman wore upon its head.

"Nurse Joy," Dawn said. "How's Staravia?"

"Staravia will be fine," the woman, Nurse Joy, said in a sweet and gentle tone. "No damage done. Just a fractured wing that will heal in a few weeks. Make sure he doesn't try to move it and make sure he gets his regular check-ups."

"I'll make sure of that," Dawn said.

It had been Jessie who came running in with Staravia in her arms, Wobbufet right behind her. Dawn was relieved when she was told that Ash had made it out and he and Brock were waiting for the rest of the pokemon to come out.

She thought it wouldn't take too much longer, but the hours passed and the rain became more heavy. Then the storm had finally arrived and no word was heard from them. She began to worry then.

Dawn looked up at the clock, not realizing just how late it had become. Her eyes grew wide in astonishment as she stared.

"Is it that time already?" she asked, surprised.

"I'm afraid so," Nurse Joy replied, looking up at the clock as well, the time reading five to eleven. "I have no choice but to lock up. If your friends aren't here in five minutes, I'm afraid that there will be nothing that I can do until tomorrow."

Dawn sighed sadly as she trudged her way over to the table Jessie was sitting. Jessie glanced over at her, sadness filling her eyes as well as pity. Dawn sat down and began to tear up.

"They're not going to make it," she said. "They're going to be trapped out there all night and all kinds of terrible things could happen during that time."

"Hey now," Jessie said softly. "Don't think like that. We've been chasing those two around a lot longer to know that they can always get themselves out of anything. Even when the going gets tough."

"Yeah?" Dawn asked with some hope.

"Look who you're talking to," Jessie said. "I'm an expert in knowing someone as well as Ash when I stick to chasing a particular person. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that other guy, Brock, I think, came running through that door this very instant to start making comments on how beautiful Nurse Joy looks."

Dawn giggled at this, causing Jessie to smile at cheering Dawn up.

"You really do know Ash and Brock a lot, even if you are villains," Dawn said.

Jessie just gave a small smile as Nurse Joy looked back up at the clock as the longer hand hit the twelve.

"Well," she said, catching the girls' attention. "I'm afraid I can't do anything more until tomorrow. I am terribly sorry. Your friends will just have to wait until-"

She was cut off suddenly as her hands were grasped and lowered just a bit. Nurse Joy didn't even realize what just happened. All she saw was a young man kneeling on one knee and staring at her, his eyes sparkling, even if they were hard to see.

"Oh be still my heart," the boy said. "I have traveled through the dark, wet night just to come and see a face of beauty that might keep my heart beating for several more minutes in this world. Alas, this world is perfect now that I have the greatest treasure on the EAAAAAAAARRRRRTTTTTTHHHHHH!"

The last word he emphasized was one of pain, for in his side was a purple glowing paw attached to a toad like pokemon. The boy fell to the ground, pain stricken as the toad pokemon began dragging the boy away.

Nurse Joy looked on in confusion, a single sweat drop forming on her fore head.

"Hey it's Brock!" Dawn said as she got up and looked towards the doorway.

There, standing in front of the door, was a soaking wet boy who looked a little dazed.

"Ash!" Dawn yelled happily as she rushed to greet him.

Jessie got up as Dustox flapped over to her.

"Oh my Dustox," she cried. "Thank goodness you're all right."

("Of course I'm fine,") Dustox said. ("I'm just glad to be here.")

("Master!") Carnivine said, leaping upon James who woke up and yelled frightfully before realizing that it was only his Carnivine lovingly hugging him with his vines. Happy to have Carniving back, James hugged him back as well.

Dawn also gave Ash a great big hug before hugging her pokemon, happy to have almost all of them back.

"It looks like you guys could use a bath," Dawn said.

"I feel like I need one too," Ash said with a sniffle before sneezing.

"Where're Buneary and Pikachu?" Dawn asked, looking around.

"I'm not sure," Ash replied. "But Brock believes that Hunter J took Buneary AND Meowth as bait to lure and capture Pikachu."

"What!?" Dawn asked, shocked.

"Meowth's been captured!?" James shouted out. "It can't be."

"Who will be there to complete our motto now?" Jessie cried. "Oh poor Meowth!"

"Hold up," Brock said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere. Ash, Dawn, and Team Rocket jumped in surprise by Brock's quick recovery.

"How does he do that?" Jessie asked mumbled.

"Now I didn't say for sure that Buneary and Meowth have been captured," Brock explained. "It's only a theory that I hope isn't true."

"But what if it is true?" Jessie shouted. "We're just sitting around here doing nothing while they're lives are in danger. We have to do something."

"I agree with Jessie," Dawn said. "Buneary means too much to me for me to lose her. All my pokemon do."

"Believe me, I feel the same way with my pokemon," Brock said. "But there's nothing more we can do tonight. It's storming and dark. We could get lost. But if you want to foolishly go out and search for them, go right ahead."

Dawn flinched in surprise at Brock's serious tone. She didn't know what to say. Luckily, she didn't have to say anything. Happiny was the one to break the silence with a sneeze.

"Oh dear," Nurse Joy said. "Just how long have you all been out in the rain for?"

"A couple hours give or take," Ash replied.

"Well then standing around in the lobby in dripping wet clothes will only make your cold worse. Take them off and head up to the showers. I'll go grab the towels. Nurse Chansey, go take the pokemon who have just come in to the back as well."

("Yes ma'am,") Chansey said with a salute.

("This way,") she said as all the drenched pokemon followed her.

Nurse Joy walked up the stairs while Brock and Ash stripped down to their undies.

"So what do you want us to do?" James asked. "Go out into the pouring rain and sleep out there for the night?"

"Normally that would be our normal response," Brock replied. "But because we're in a crisis, we're willing to let you spend the night in here, as long as you don't do any thieving."

"Oh we won't do that," Jessie said. "Not without Meowth missing. Besides, our pokemon need a place to stay for the night to rest up."

Nurse Joy returned with the towels and handed one each to Ash and Brock who draped the towels over there bodies and ran for the upstairs to shower.

Nurse Joy picked up the bundle of wet clothes and threw them into a laundry basket nearby.

As she was picking the basket up and heading into the back room, she asked Dawn, "Would you mind locking the doors down for me?"

"Not at all," Dawn replied as she went around the desk and flipped a switch. Dawn watched as the shutters began sliding down automatically until they covered up the doors, preventing anyone from coming in or going out for the night.

"Please be O.K., Buneary," Sawn whispered quietly to herself. "You too, Pikachu."

--

It was quiet now. All activity had died down for the night. It was a lucky break for him, being that he didn't have to work to become quite charming and persuasive to capture other pokemon. Hunter J had planned to head downstream and search for Pikachu's body where the current slowed, but the storm had put that plan on hold.

It wasn't that she was afraid, she just didn't want to risk the plane being struck by lightning while they were in the air. So in the end, Hunter J and her men had all went to their rooms to rest for the night.

The only ones left in the main control room where Meowth himself and Buneary, the later in a corner now sobbing her heart out. Meowth felt bad for her. After all, she did just lose the one pokemon she was in love with.

Meowth had managed to hear it all. The confessions Pikachu gave for Buneary, followed by the endless hours of wailing from Buneary. It was heartbreaking to Meowth. He couldn't stand the pain Buneary was going through. It caused him to think of someone special he loved in his life.

Of course, Hunter J wasn't enjoying Buneary's nonstop crying and was having second thoughts on Buneary's trust. If it weren't for him of course (Meowth), Buneary would have been put on auction immediately.

Somehow, Meowth had managed to persuade J to let him handle Buneary. He was given a twenty-four hour warning to put Buneary's trust back into her and Meowth promised that he would have Buneary back to her emotionless state in no time.

However, that proved to be futile for several hours until it became completely dark. Buneary eventually quit her wailing and was only left with sobs. She was huddled up, looking truly alone.

Meowth only had a few hours to get Buneary back on track before Hunter J put her on auction. And Meowth didn't want to be by himself. He only had one option, and that was to talk to her.

He slowly made his way over to her, taking his time, though time was slowly ticking a lot faster than it seemed to be. He finally stopped several feet from Buneary and listened. Over the pelting rain upon the plane, Meowth could hear the quiet sobs slowly dying down coming from Buneary.

He realized the she was crying herself to sleep. He had to act fast before she went to sleep completely. So he spoke.

"Um," he said, scratching the back of his head, wondering what word he could say.

He saw Buneary's left ear twitch slightly, obviously hearing his voice. Meowth bit his lip and decided to just say something random.

"Hey, uh, I just wanted to come and, uh, talk or something," he said.

Buneary snorted.

"I hope you don't go to sleep or something like tat," he said. "Because then I'd be alone here in the dark with no one to talk to and you're the only company I have I can actually talk to."

Buneary continued to sob quietly as she began to rock herself back and forth. Meowth scratched the back of his head again, clearly at a loss for words. But then, an idea began to creep up in his mind, jus as Buneary barely spoke.

("I don't think I'll be able to sleep ever again,") she barely mumbled. ("If I do, I'm just going to have nightmares. Even now I can see his face, the expression he wore. If only I'd been faster. If only I hadn't made the stupid decision of joining J's team, Pikachu wouldn't be dead. It's all my fault.")

"Well, I hate to point fingers, but you do have a point there," Meowth said. "But what else could you have done?"

("I could have waited,") Buneary replied. ("I could have waited until he finally realized what love was and finally admit how he felt about me. Even if it took an eternity.")

"Wish she felt the same way," Meowth said.

("She?") Buneary asked, turning her head towards him a bit.

"A pokemon I was in love with before I even joined Team Rocket," Meowth said. "In fact, she was the reason why I can talk today."

("Really?") Buneary asked, now slightly interested in who this mysterious pokemon was.

"Of course," Meowth replied. "Why don't you scoot over to Meowth and I'll tell you all about it."

And so Meowth spent the time telling Buneary all about his life and how he met the beautiful Meowzy, a rich Meowth who found Meowth as a freak and told him how she wanted someone who could actually talk.

And so Meowth spent his life learning how to talk until the day he could hold Meowzy in his arms, only to have been shot down by being called an even bigger freak. Crushed, Meowth left the pack he was in and eventually joined up with Team Rocket, helping them to steal rare and valuable pokemon for their leader.

("Wow!") Buneary said after he finished. ("What a bitch!")

"I know," Meowth said. "And then when I returned years later, I discovered that her trainer was broke and she joined up with my old pack I used to be in. And unfortunately she fell in love with the leader, a Persian. And I was still a freak to her. Guess I know why I hate Persians now."

Buneary stared at Meowth for several seconds before a small smile crept up upon her face. The smile only got bigger as a giggle escaped her throat. Then, without warning, she busted out laughing. Meowth was totally caught off guard as Buneary laughed.

Buneary must have laughed a good ten minutes before she finally calmed down and went right to crying. Meowth just stared blankly at Buneary and her weird moods.

("I'm sorry,") she cried. ("I just can't stay happy for very long without knowing that Pikachu is gone. And it's all my fault.")

Meowth sighed as he leaned over and hugged her, patting her on the back in order to comfort her.

"There, there," Meowth said as Buneary began to simmer down. "Come on now. Pikachu wouldn't want to see you like this. He would be devastated if he saw you like this. It would make feel like it was his own fault that he did this to you."

("I know,") Buneary said. ("But I just feel awful still.")

"Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but what's done is done," Meowth said. "Pikachu's in a better place now. He would have wanted it this way anyway. And I don't mean that to sound like I'm a snob."

("I know,") Buneary said.

"Now listen," Meowth said, breaking the hug. "I only have less than a few hours until time runs out. Hunter J is a little uncertain about you. If you don't regain your emotionless attitude, J will put you on display and auction you off to some random trainer and you'll never see your friends again. So as a friend, I'm desperately begging you that you just play your part until I find some way out of this plane."

("There's no way we can escape,") Buneary said. ("Once someone joins Hunter J's team, you can never leave.")

"Well then your friends are bound to find and rescue us," Meowth said. "All we have to do is wait out until then."

Meowth glanced over at Buneary and saw that she was depressed again. Meowth sighed and got up, obviously tired for staying up so late. As he was walking off, Buneary called out to him.

("Meowth,") she said.

Meowth stopped and turned around, looking at her in question. Buneary raised her head towards him and said, ("Thanks for being a friend.")

"Ecxactly what friends are for," Meowth said with a small smile as he turned and walked off into the corridor. He found his way into an empty room and lied down to sleep. Darkness took him a moment later and the steady breathing of sleep began.


	17. Chapter 17

_He blinked once, turning his head in every direction, and like everywhere, there was nothing but darkness. It was nothing more than an empty void. And the weird part was, he was neither floating nor falling. He just seemed to stay right in place, as if he were on land. He wondered why he was here._

_As he pondered this question, color began to show as scenery took place of the darkness. He looked around, noting that he was out in what seemed to be an open field. But he noticed that there was an edge, a curved edge that obviously led down into something. But what? A bottomless gorge? A forest below?_

_He continued to stare at the edge, curiosity calling him to check it out. He turned around. Behind him seemed to be a grassy plain with no pathway, and a small hill sloped upward to that grassy plain. Was this a test then? A test to see whether he would take the edge of the cliff over the greenery of the grassy plain?_

_He turned back to the edge of the cliff, curiosity strongly calling him to check it out. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began moving towards the cliff, one foot in front of the other. His walking pace was normal, despite the curiosity eagerly wanting him to look over the edge._

_He soon made it to the edge after a few strides forward and peered down. His assumptions have been wrong of what had been at the bottom. It was neither a bottomless chasm nor a forest below. Instead, it was a river. A river with sharp, jagged rocks below, just begging for some poor, lonely thing to come along and fall upon them._

_The current was fast and from the looks of it, strong as well. Falling in would probably be the last thing he wanted to do. The current was strong enough to suck in someone and never let them go. They would drown._

_Then, suddenly, he noticed something that was not part of the cliff wall as he stared downward. It was very close to the top. He couldn't tell what it was. All he could tell was that it was yellow with two stripes on it. And sticking out from the wall seemed to be a lightning bolt._

_It was odd, he thought, that a lightning bolt was stuck in a cliff wall. He continued to stare, trying to make out what it was. Then, the yellow thing moved. Something was looking up at him with desperate, pleading eyes._

_It had red circles on each side below its eyes and a small, sad smile upon its face. It had long, yellow ears with black tips on the end. The creature seemed awfully familiar to him, but he just couldn't place on what it was._

_"Help me," it said softly. "Please, help me."_

_He stared down upon the poor, helpless creature as it looked up at him, those sad, pleading eyes, that small, sad smile, asking him if he would do anything to help._

_Taking pity on the poor creature after staring at it for what seemed to be forever, he stretched down an arm to scoop the creature up. But as he did so, the creature's paws slipped from the rocky wall and began falling._

_He wanted to scream out as the creature fell, to scream out NO in pure pain and agony. But no words came out of his mouth. It was left hanging open, shocked and unable to find any words. He could only watch as the creature fell to its doom upon the sharp, jagged rocks below._

--

Ash opened his eyes, sitting right up in bed. Sweat was trickling down his body as it trembled violently. Ash looked around wildly to see where he was and relaxed after a minute after he realized he was safe.

He remembered that he made it into the Pokemon Center in Ever Lake Town the previous night. It was raining and a storm was going on at the time. He came in with Brock along with Dawn's pokemon, Jessie's Dustox, and James' Carnivine. He and Brock took showers while the pokemon went in the back to rest for the night.

Ash laid his head back down and turned it to the right, glancing down to an empty spot on the bed. Pikachu would always have been right there every morning, sleeping by his side and greeting him, making him smile. But where was Pikachu anyway? He wasn't in his usual spot.

Ash knew where he was, though. He was probably in the clutches of Hunter J now, already being auctioned off to someone who wanted his raw power. And if he wasn't, he was probably lost and had no clue where to go to find him. And sitting in bed all day wasn't going to help him rescue Pikachu any faster.

Of course, Pikachu wasn't the only one in danger, from the other two absent pokemon who haven't shown up. Buneary and Meowth were also in the clutches of Hunter J. Sure Meowth was his enemy, but there was a part of him that cared. Besides, he and Team Rocket teamed up with them during certain times of his life.

There was that time when Pikachu was under control by the other two Team Rocket members. Cassidy and... Buck, was it? It was always hard remembering his name. But anyway, Team Rocket had lost their pokemon as well, including Meowth. They made a temporary alliance to help free all the controlled pokemon.

Then there was that time at the Shamuti Islands where he had to go and retrieve the orbs of fire, ice, and lightning. He had the ice orb left to get and the way to the island was blocked. But of course, Team Rocket showed up and helped him out by means of a life boat being propelled by a helicopter tail.

And he couldn't forget the time where he met the most powerful pokemon on Earth: Mewtwo. Mewtwo was saved by Ash, being thrown in a lake that revived a pokemon's health. Afterwards, Mewtwo had moved the lake underground so that no one would ever disturb his clone pokemon who lived their lives there.

Of course, Mewtwo had planned on erasing everyone's memories to prevent them from remembering, but it was Meowth who told reason to Mewtwo not to. In the end, Mewtwo only erased the memories of those who sought to destroy.

Ash thought back to all those memories as he got up and walked over to the window. The sun was just rising as he looked out. The scenery was beautiful. with the storm passed, the entire landscape looked untouched with the aftermath of the rain. The water shone brightly, reflecting the sun, making the land even more beautiful.

Ash gave a small smile and sighed. The feeling was wonderful, but it wasn't the same without his best buddy being there. Ash looked back at where everyone slept.

He and James shared a bunk bed. James called top while Ash got he bottom, as usual. James was silently snoring, comfortable that he was on something very comfortable rather than out on the ground somewhere.

In the middle of the room, sleeping on a cot, Brock was happily having yet another dream of meeting girls. Same old Brock. He even had the pillow on his face to show it, one hand clutched to it while the other hand was raised into the air.

From across the bed from where he and James were sleeping, there was another bunk bed. Only Jessie and Dawn were the ones sleeping on it. Jessie, on top, was lying rather still, her head turned to one side. It must of felt nice for both her and James that they were indoors for once.

Ash's smile grew a little until it noticed the bottom bunk. Then it turned into a frown. A confused look entered his eyes as he noticed that Dawn was not in her bed as he thought she would. Instead, her bed was empty and already made. But there was a piece of paper lying on it. It was most likely from Dawn.

Ash walked over and picked the note up and read it.

__

If anyone happens to wake up and find me gone, don't worry. I'm just over at the lake right outside the city. I won't be gone long. -Dawn.

P.S. I told you not to worry again, didn't I?

Ash chuckled as he placed the note back on the bed so that Brock would read it later. Or Team Rocket. Whoever read it first. It really didn't matter to him. In the mean time, Ash already had a few things that he wanted to do that morning.

First, he wanted to check to see how Staravia was doing. Then he wanted to have breakfast followed by visiting the lake, that is if Dawn hadn't returned by that time. But it was so much to think of. Ash didn't know which to do first.

He was worried about Staravia a little, but Dawn told him that Staravia would be fine within a few weeks, right after she told him not to worry, again, and throw a major fit about it.

His stomach growled then, telling him that it was hungry. But at the same time, he had the desire to go to the lake.

Ash slowly walked out of the room and down to the lobby, thinking on what he might do first. Finally, a decision was made as his feet landed on the final step before the lobby.

--

A loud banging sound reached his ears right before the sound of something sliding open was heard. A pair of eyes snapped open instantly and looked up at a middle aged man in a suit. Almost immediately the owner of the eyes got up and snapped to attention.

"Sir?" Meowth asked with a salute.

"J sent for me to grab you," the man replied. "And the salute's not necessary."

"Yes sir," Meowth spoke, dropping his salute as he followed out.

Entering the main control room, J's voice automatically spoke out.

"A job well done, Meowth," she said to him.

"Ma'am?" he asked uncertain.

"I meant with Buneary," J replied.

"She isn't giving you any more trouble, is she?" Meowth asked. "Because if she is, I'll spend whatever remaining hours I have left to deal with her."

"On the contrary," J said. "Whatever you told her last night worked. Buneary."

Meowth glanced down by J's feet to see Buneary standing there, once again in her emotionless state. Meowth smiled, glad to see that he got through to her.

"So what do we do now?" Meowth asked, glancing back up at J.

"Now we go search for Pikachu," Hunter J responded. "Hopefully if he's still alive, we'll be able to patch him up and then send him off to auction."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Meowth said as J walked over to sit in her usual spot. Meowth followed, passing Buneary by and hearing a whispered, ("Thank you") from her before she, herself, took place in her usual position.

The sounds of the plane's engines began revving up as the plane began to levitate off the ground. In that instant, the sound of a shrill ring sounded. J pressed a single button on her chair and the room darkened as the screen came sliding down.

Again the same mysterious being Meowth saw yesterday was on the other end. To him, he sort of looked familiar, like he had seen him once before, but couldn't tell where.

"What the hell is taking you so damn long?" the person asked angrily.

"We hit a bit of an unexpected problem," J answered calmly. "Pikachu's trail, shall I say, has run cold at the moment."

"You promised me that I'd have a Pikachu by today," the person said. "I'd hate to think that you're double crossing me."

"Relax," J said. "There is no one else that we would give Pikachu to without first consulting you. So just give me a few more hours to spare. I'm sure I'll find Pikachu within no time."

"I'm not so sure," the person said. "I'd like to have a small discussion with you face to face. ASAP."

"Very well," J said.

"But ma'am," one of her henchmen said.

"But ma'am nothing," J yelled at him. "The client always gets what he wants. And if he wants to talk to me face to face, so be it." She turned her attention back towards her client. "So where should we be meeting you at?"

"Follow the river downstream," the person said. "I'll be waiting by the lake."

"I'll see you there," J said as she hung up. The room lightened up as the screen slid back up.

"This is such a perfect plan," J said. "While I talk to the client, you men will be searching the lake for Pikachu. No doubt he drifted into it."

"Yes ma'am," her followers yelled in unison as the plane rose into the air.

"So where is it exactly we're going?" Meowth asked.

"Right outside of Ever Lake Town," J answered as the plane shot forward.

--

The morning air was crisp and cool as Dawn walked. The cool air passing by her caused her to shiver slightly. If only she knew that air temperatures drop after rainstorms, she would have put on long sleeved clothes. But she was stuck like she was. Then again, the weather was predicted to clear up by the afternoon. So she wasn't all that worried.

Dawn was up a bit earlier than she wanted to be, but somehow it all worked out to how she wanted it to. She got to have breakfast and see her pokemon. Piplup and Ambipom were doing spectacular, despite how soaked they were when they arrived at the Pokemon Center last night.

Pachirisu was the only one to have catch a cold as well as Carnivine and Dustox. Nurse Joy told her that it was only a common cold and that it would be gone by the end of the week.

She at least had two of her pokemon back with her at least. And that was enough to make her happy, for now. But still she worried for Buneary. Her life was in danger and Dawn had no way of knowing how to find Hunter J. Her best bet would be to find someone who's been tracking her.

Dawn eventually felt herself walking downhill, and ahead of her the lake began to show, spreading wider the closer she neared it. Dawn stopped right by the edge and stared out, marveling at how it sparkled and shone with the rising sun.

__

"It's so beautiful,"

she thought.

She looked around for a place to sit and found a rock to sit upon. She sat down and took off her shoes and socks before wading into the shallow part of the lake. The lake was very cold and it sent shivers through her body.

__

It feels good too. Though cold, but good."

The water felt really cold, cold enough for Dawn to swim in. But she forgot to bring her bathing suit with her. Then again, there were more problems going on at the moment that would have to postpone the swimming. So what was she doing here?

Dawn looked to her right, staring at the gap that made its way straight out, like a waterway. The gap there was where the river flowed, right into the lake. Dawn sighed sadly and stood there in the water for what seemed to be a while.

After a while, her feet began to grow cold, a bit colder than the water was. She looked skyward for a full minute, still worrying about the missing pokemon that were in J's clutches.

__

Could Pikachu really save her and Meowth?"

she wondered.

_"What if something happens to him while trying? Or worst?"_

Dawn turned around and returned to the shore, the wet grass keeping her feet wet, as well as staining the bottom of her feet. She sat down upon the rock and began putting her shoes back on, drying her feet off with her socks. They would always be washed.

As she finished tying her shoes, someone spoke out from behind her.

"Great," the being spoke, sounding annoyed. "Just who I needed to see hanging around here."

Dawn slowly put her foot down, the rest of her body freezing for just an instant before anger welled up inside of her. She knew that sneer of a voice all to well.

Turning around, she stared into the face of a sour looking face, his eyes glaring upon her like he hated not just her, but he entire world. His hair was a bit more darker than James' was, almost a violet. He wore a blue jacket and a pair of Kaki pants.

"What are you doing here, Paul?" Dawn asked back in the same attitude he was using.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Paul said to her. "I'm passing my way through here."

"Looking for strong pokemon like always," Dawn said.

"It's none of your concern," Paul said. "So why don't you run off and go travel off with your friends?"

"Maybe I will," Dawn said snobbishly. "Or maybe I'll just sit here and annoy you."

"Be my guest," Paul said as he turned his attention towards the lake and stood still, like he was a statue.

Dawn gave a small humph and turned away from him, eyes closed and face stuck upward.

__

"I could care less if he stood there forever and never move,"

she thought as she remained in her position.

However, as the minutes passed by, she started to become a little fidgety. She tried to deny it at first, but it just seemed to grow the more she thought about it. She tried keeping her cool, but it just wasn't working.

Finally, after what seemed to be like fifteen minutes, she finally growled and got up, turning towards him. Paul gave a glare glance at her as she stared angrily at him.

"I bet it makes you happy that I'm sitting here wondering why you're really here," she said, huffing.

Paul said nothing as he returned his gaze to the lake.

"Oh I get it," Dawn said. "You're giving me the silent treatment. You want me to guess what you're doing here, don't you? Or could you really care less that you couldn't care at all?"

"Now you're making no sense," Paul said.

"Or maybe I am making sense after all," Dawn said. "I want to know what you're doing here. Or maybe you just like to keep me guessing out of amusement."

"Now you're just insane," Paul said, keeping his gaze focused on the lake.

"Oh am I?" Dawn asked. "Well maybe I wouldn't be if you told me what you're doing here."

Paul was silent, keeping his gaze upon the lake as Dawn continued to stare at Paul, waiting for an answer. Her eyes began to itch, demanding that they blink as Paul kept his gaze to the lake. Just as she finally gave into the demand, Paul finally said something, but not in the way she would expect.

"Do you find it odd that there's a yellow thing bobbing up and down in the water with a strange zigzag like lightning bolt attached to it?" he asked.

Now Dawn did blink, but rather than in confusion at first before her usual stare returned to Paul.

"Now you're just changing the subject," she yelled.

"No,' Paul said, shaking his head, eyes closed for a moment. "I'm serious. Look."

He raised an arm and pointed a finger out into the lake. Dawn turned her head towards what he was pointing at and saw for herself nothing at first. Just a clear lake, the rising sun reflecting off it.

Then, she saw it. It was yellow, to what Paul had said. And for a very split second, she thought she saw a zigzag like lightning bolt surface with it. Dawn's eyes lit up with uncertainty and curiosity all at the same time.

Something very familiar about the yellow bobbing lightning bolt seemed... just rather familiar to her. She froze, her body tensing up at what it might be. A cold feeling passed through her, but it wasn't the morning air. It was more a chill of fear. She slowly reached for one of her pokeballs and pressed a button, making it grow in size.

"Well are you just going to stand there or are you going to send your Piplup out to see what it is?" Paul asked.

"Right," Dawn said, her voice a lot weaker than it had ever been. "Piplup, come out."

She pressed the button in the middle again and out came a flash of light, the light soon become a small, blue penguin.

("What is it?") Piplup asked, cocking her head to one side to see what the matter was with her trainer.

"Piplup," Dawn said. "Go out and retrieve that yellow bobbing thing with the lightning bolt on it.

("O.K.") Piplup said slowly, noticing that there was something wrong in her trainer's voice.

But nevertheless, Piplup dove into the water and swam straight forward, spotting something in the distance. As she swam closer, she froze in fear at the sight before her.

--

Back up on land, Dawn was anxiously waiting Piplup's return, Paul still standing like a statue. His face unreadable. The water began rippling as something like a torpedo headed straight both for the two.

Piplup's head surfaced after a minute, but it seemed like she could barely stand. Her entire body was trembling as she turned and began dragging something out with her. Dawn's eyes grew wide, horrified, as she covered her moth with a now shaking hand.

Paul's eyes also widened. His face was now one in surprise. Piplup let go of the thing she was dragging and backed up slightly, her body trembling violently. Tears were pouring down her face.

There, lying on the ground with all three staring, was the torn up, bloody sight of Pikachu, lifeless upon the ground.


	18. Chapter 18

The pain. The pain he was feeling was beyond pain. It was something more, a lot more than pain. Whatever the feeling was, it wasn't that of a pleasant feeling. What had happened to make him feel this way? Memories flashed before his mind, too fast for him to comprehend.

There were memories of that of a boy. This boy meant something to him, but couldn't remember what. But somehow, he felt like he played an important role in his life. More memories came, putting aside the boy.

Memories of faces he felt he knew crowded his mind. But because of the fast flashes, he never had time to look at them closely to see who they were. Could these faces be of those of the past? Of the present? Maybe even the future? He didn't know.

All he knew was that there was pain coursing through him. He felt weak. So this is what it must have felt like. Then again, he probably been this way before. But he couldn't be sure. It seemed like it was so long ago since he felt this way.

But yet here he stood. No, wait. He wasn't standing at all. Nor was he sitting. He was floating, as far as he could tell. At least he thought he was. But why was he floating? And why in Mew's name was it so dark? Was he dead? No. He couldn't be. Could he?

Another surge of pain throbbed painfully through his muscles, yet he didn't flinch. That should have answered something. He felt alive, yet at the same time, he felt like he wasn't. He felt motionless, like his body was just giving into whatever was happening to him.

He felt his heart barely beating, his breath ragged, and the blood running through him running slower and slower, somehow escaping his body. Was this what people called "On The Verge Of Death?"

If it was, it felt painful, yet at the same time nice. The pain throbbed and then subsided for a few minutes, repeating every so often. All he wanted was for the pain to go away. But he couldn't. He didn't. He wanted to stay. There were many reasons he wanted to live. And one of them, now that his mind drifted towards it, was to fulfill a purpose for someone close to him.

But there was one other major purpose that played again and again in his mind. A creature appeared in his thoughts, though the creature appeared to be blurry. Only its head was visible. And it had very long ears with fluff on the tips of them.

He felt heavy now, like he was just floating and wanting to fall. He took a look below and saw a river, it's current running fast. It looked strong too. Strong enough to pull one under and drown him there for eternity. But that wasn't what worried him.

Below him, high above where he was floating, were sharp, jagged rocks that beckoned for one to come and meet his unfortunate end upon them. They sure did look tempting, but he didn't seem afraid of them. It was something far worse than that.

He looked back up into the creature's face, now noticing his paw holding the creature's paw. It was brown. And looking straight up, he looked into the eyes of someone he knew, someone he cared for at that very moment, someone he loved.

The expression in her eyes was one of worry, guilt, and... desire? That last part was hard to tell. Of course, it could have been hope or desperation. Sometimes trying to tell other's feelings were hard. But these eyes had a burning fire in them. A burning fire that showed him that they were going to get out of it together, somehow.

But he knew that they wouldn't, even though he couldn't remember the situation they were in. All he could think about was how beautiful she looked. And how her face would always be in his mind and heart.

He knew what he had to do, feeling like his life was at stake and let go of the paw, whispering out four words to her.

("I love you, Buneary.")

He heard the tortured screams coming from her, her head being taken out of view as he dropped further down. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he knew he wouldn't have time to cry. Things happened so fast not even he knew what happened next. All he did know was that his head hit something very hard and he blacked out, possibly dead.

But no. He didn't feel all dead. Yet. There were faint signals in his body that kept him alive, but wouldn't continue working very long. He felt himself starting to enter deeper into his sleep, feeling eternity creeping ever so closer, slipping over his mind and beckoning him to his slumber forever.

He succumbed to the beckoning, feeling the aches and pain all starting to ebb away. His mind continued to think of only one being only as he slowly began losing his focus. How lovely she was, standing in the morning sun as it shone her upon her, making her extremely gorgeous.

How could he never had noticed before how much she meant to him? Of all the times she acted so strange around him, he always turned the other way, confused by her actions and blind as to what it was she was doing. He never had any experience on flirting, but now as he realized the truth, everything made a lot more sense to him.

But it didn't matter now. His time was at an end. Eternal slumber was upon him. And the only memory he wanted to cling to was her.

But just as he finally let the last of his breath escape, he thought he felt something jar him, move him in a certain direction. Almost like he was being pulled. The pain returned suddenly, but his body just didn't respond in any way possible.

He heard whispers all around him suddenly, but couldn't tell what they were or what they were saying. Nor could he care. He just wanted to be left alone, to be at peace. But yet, there was something disagreeing with what he thought. Something that he couldn't understand. Was there some sort of battle raging on? And what was it about?

A low humming sound suddenly filled the area. He didn't bother looking for it. He just felt so weak he wanted to stop himself from ever having to do anything ever again. So, he stopped and allowed the darkness to take hold of him once again.

--

_"What am I doing?"_ he thought as he walked around aimlessly, not having a clue as to what he was doing.

This morning he stood in the Pokemon Center, trying to choose between eating, checking up on the pokemon, and going to find Dawn. For some odd reason he couldn't explain, walking around the town seemed to have won out between the three.

Was this a diversion just to keep his mind else where so that he wouldn't worry about a certain someone? If it was, it was failing miserably. He was all right with the fact that his best pal, when away from him, was elsewhere, safe out of harm's way. It was another if he was in danger.

And right now, he felt like he was in danger. Maybe in an even worse condition than he thought. But it couldn't be. His best pal, even at his weakest, was able to make an escape from anywhere he was trapped in. But if a horde of pokemon were trapped, he would have end up having to take time out to escape and save all of them. He would have done the same.

He smiled as he thought of his friend. His one and only Pikachu. He always came through in a pinch, no matter how strong an opponent was. But right now, he was being hunted by Hunter J. Who knows how long he could keep out of her clutches. But then again, Buneary and Meowth were in trouble, captured by the hunter herself. Pikachu would have to come up with a very smart plan to get away with Meowth and Buneary following.

He snapped back to reality, realizing he was staring in through a window. Just a bunch of junky displays were lined up in the inside. What was all the point in all this junk anyway? Most of it looked like it could never be used again. What a great way to relieve worry. By taking it out on neat looking junk.

He sighed depressingly as he turned and walked off into the crowd bustling every way they could walk. Of course, he was walking a lot more slower than anyone else. He dragged his feet upon the ground. Not a good thing to do, even if he was worried beyond anything else.

Spying a bench, Ash dragged himself over to it and sat himself down upon it, staring at the ground as people passed him by, not stopping to ask him if he was all right. They only looked at him as they walked on by. Why should they be concerned for him and his problems? This was something he had to get through on his own.

He was so lost, deep in his thoughts that he never even heard someone yelling. Not until it was right in his ear anyway as something shook him.

"Huh!?" he said, dazed, like he had no idea where he was.

He looked over to see what was shaking him and crying out. To his surprise, it was none other than a small, blue penguin.

"Piplup!?" Ash said, surprised. "What are you doing here? And where's Dawn? Is she all right?"

Piplup shook her head and began throwing a very freaked out temper, almost like something was wrong. Ash did recall that Dawn went down to the lake for the morning. Could something have happened there? And if so, what?

Piplup continued on trying to explain the situation, or at least get Ash to understand. Of course, Ash put two and two together quickly and felt that something indeed was wrong. Piplup wouldn't be going hysterical like this if something hadn't happened. Especially if Dawn wasn't nearby.

"Piplup," Ash said, causing Piplup to stop for a short moment. "IS Dawn still down by the lake?" Piplup nodded. "All right then."

Ash took out a pokeball and threw it into the air.

"Turtwig, I need you!"

Out from the ball came a flash of light that formed into the four legged grass type.

("What's up, master?") Turtwig asked.

"Turtwig, I need you to get back to the Pokemon Center and get Brock and the others to come to the lake," Ash told him. "There's a note on Dawn's bed for Brock to read if he doesn't understand. Hurry!"

("On it,") Turtwig said, running back for the Center as fast as he could.

Ash turned in the opposite direction, picking Piplup up and beginning to run for the lake

--

__

(Twenty minutes earlier)

Piplup stood there, her body trembling violently at the scene that laid before her. Pikachu was lying motionless on the ground, covered in dry blood and, from the looks of it, not breathing.

Piplup wanted to do nothing more than look away in disgust and cry. But she felt no tears come to her. She was shocked into silence to see her friend like this, in the state he was in. She stared at his body, studying the mess he was in. It was quite hard to determine where his injuries were. Only from what she could see, the tip of his tail was slightly torn and the tip of his right ear was folded over, like it was broken.

Dawn and Paul stood there as well, shocked, as they stared at his body. Paul was the first to recover though, regaining his expression as he walked quickly to Pikachu. He knelt down and placed a hand lightly over Pikachu, his eyes carefully studying his body.

Dawn finally lowered her hand after staring in shock after several minutes and asked a real idiotic question.

"Is he all right?"

Dawn immediately flinched when Paul glared back at her, growling slightly in irritation before returning his gaze to Pikachu.

"His right ear is broken at the tip," he answered. "His tail is torn. He has some minor scrapes and a few major flesh wounds. Does he sound like he's O.K. to you?"

"Where is he hurt most?" Dawn asked, wincing.

"He has one major wound on his left shoulder, a deep wound," Paul replied. "His right arm looks like it's been sliced open. That wound is deep also. I can feel something loose moving around inside of him. So he probably has a broken bone or something. His head seems to be bashed in pretty hard and he has a bit of an infectious and long cut on his chest, directly next to his heart."

Dawn gasped again, putting the hand back up to cover her mouth, shocked. Her body felt like it was going limp. She didn't think she could move.

"Don't start falling apart like that," Paul said angrily as he immediately turned around to see her trembling body. "We need to get Pikachu to the Pokemon Center right away. But we have to be careful. Any wrong movements and we can make it worse than he already is."

Dawn slowly nodded her head as if to reply that she understood.

"Good," Paul said as he unbuttoned his jacket and took it off. He then carefully placed Pikachu on it before wrapping him up. Paul then carefully picked Pikachu up and began moving for the town.

"Let's go," he said. But he stopped suddenly, hearing a strange, low humming sound filling the area.

Dawn heard it too, for her body calmed down a great deal, her expression vanishing as she looked around for the noise. Piplup also looked wildly about. The noise was loud now and everyone looked up into the air.

Above them, covering the morning sky, low as it was, passed a ship, from which the noise came from. Paul looked on, trying to wonder what it was. Dawn could only stand there and gasp in surprise as the plane slowed.

"What is that?" Paul asked.

"That's Hunter J's plane," Dawn replied. "She must be coming to look for Pikachu."

Hearing this, Paul took evasive action instantly. He walked over to Dawn and grabbed her arm, practically dragging her with him as he walked at a quick pace.

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked, curious as to Paul's weird behavior all of a sudden.

Paul swung her around, stopping her right in front of a tree and glared at her, scaring her as her body began to tremble again.

"Listen," he said in a harsh whisper. "You stay here and keep out of sight."

"What are you going to do?" Dawn whispered back.

No answer came from Paul . Instead, he just glared at her for another second and sped off to another tree, hiding behind that one with Pikachu still in his arms as the plane landed.

Dawn watched as the plane began to lower and looked down to see Piplup watching as well. Thinking fast, Dawn knelt down and got Piplup's attention.

"Piplup, I need you to go back into town and find Ash and Brock," Dawn said. "They'll know that's something's wrong if I don't show with you. Now go."

Piplup nodded her head once and ran off as the plane opened up and a ramp lowered. Cue Hunter J walking out with her men behind her. But that wasn't what surprised Dawn. Behind J was what surprised her.

--

"Good morning," came Joy's sweet tone. "I'm glad you all had a good night's sleep last night, despite the storm.

"To be honest it's the first night of many long nights that I've ever been that comfortable," James said. "I actually feel great for the first time in my life."

"That's glad to hear," Joy said with a smile.

"So, Nurse Joy, how is my Carnivine doing?"

"Your Carnivine has a bit of a cold," Joy said. "But it's nothing more than just a common cold. Otherwise your Carnivine is fine."

"And while we're on the subject of fine, I think I need to know just how fine you are, Nurse Joy," Brock said, kneeling on one knee while staring up into Joy's eyes, holding her hands. "That dazzling smile just lights my while day up. The love I feel for you has no boundaries that it can stay behind."

Cue a Poison Jab into his side, falling in pain before being dragged away by Croagunk.

("I love my job,") Croagunk croaked as he walked around a corner.

"Guess there's only one obstacle within that boundary," James said, just staring after him as Jessie came walking down the stairs, yawning while carrying a piece of paper.

"Morning," she said sleepily.

"Looks like someone has a bit of a bed head problem," James said, smirking.

Jessie gave him a nasty glare as she walked over to him.

"So how's your Carnivine?"

"Just has a cold," James replied. "He'll be fine."

"What about my Dustox?" Jessie asked.

"Dustox, and Pachirisu all have colds as well," Nurse Joy replied. "But they'll be better if given some cold medicine."

"Say Jessie," James said. "What's with that piece of paper in your hand?"

"Hmmm?" Jessie asked before remembering. "Oh, right. Twerpette's gone down to the lake. And the other twerp is gone as well."

"He's probably walking around town," Brock said, reappearing next to them, scaring them a bit. "He does that when he's depressed."

"He really does love that Pikachu of his that much, doesn't he?" Jessie asked.

"He sure does," Brock replied with a nod as the Center doors slid open.

All three turned to see a sweating Turtwig walking in. He was breathing rather heavily as he walked in.

"Hey isn't that Ash's Turtwig?" Jessie asked.

"It is," Brock replied as he walked over to Turtwig and knelt down. "Turtwig, where's Ash?"

Of course, Brock already knew the answer the minute Turtwig walked in the way he did. Turtwig would never show up by himself unless there was trouble. But the question remained on his whereabouts exactly.

Turtwig looked up into Brock's eyes, wishing that there was a way to tell him where Ash had gone. But the fact of the matter was, he couldn't speak human. But luckily for him, his question was answered.

"Maybe he's at the lake with that other friend of yours," Jessie replied, holding up the note.

Brock quickly got up and snatched the note from Jessie, reading it.

"The lake's just outside the town," Brock said. "I have a feeling Hunter J is back."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" James asked. "Let's go find her."

"All right," Brock said before turning to Nurse Joy. "Nurse Joy, call the police and tell them that there's trouble down at the lake."

"I would if I could," Joy said. "But I'm afraid the police are elsewhere at the moment."

"Well find a way to contact them," Brock said. "It's really urgent. Just let them know Hunter J is right outside the town."

"I'll try my best," Joy said.

Brock turned and began heading out the doors.

"Let's go," he said. Jessie, James, and Turtwig followed close behind to help out.

_I just hope we get there in time,"_ Brock thought as the three, and Turtwig, ran through the crowd to get to the lake.


	19. Chapter 19

"Ambipom, use your Double Team!" Dawn ordered.

Ambipom looked back towards her and nodded, copying itself as Ambipom after Ambipom formed a circle around Buneary. Buneary hesitated as the Double Team was complete, trying to figure out which Ambipom was the real one. The twelve Ambipoms that surrounded her began to prepare for a leap and strike, but J ordered a command before Dawn could.

"Buneary," she said. "We don't have time for this. Use your Ice Beam."

Dawn winced as J gave that order to Buneary. Buneary fired out from her mouth a blue beam and slowly aimed it at each Ambipom, the Ambipoms all disappearing the moment the beam hit them. Once the last Ambipom disappeared, Buneary ceased her attack, realizing that the real Ambipom wasn't there.

("Damn,") she said emotionlessly, looking up to see the real Ambipom in the sky, falling towards her.

"Now Ambipom, use Swift," Dawn said, shutting her eyes in anguish, wishing that this wasn't happening.

Ambipom began twirling around, releasing fast moving stars that fell down upon Buneary. But Buneary dodged at the last second and leapt up towards Ambipom who couldn't do a single thing while in the air.

Dawn looked up helplessly as Buneary smashed hard into Ambipom. Buneary quickly followed up by using her Bounce attack and smashing Ambipom hard into the ground. Dawn shut her eyes in pain, hearing the cracking of bones in Ambipom as she was forcefully shoved deeper into the ground.

Buneary jumped off and landed right back in front of Hunter J, not showing any sign of emotion that she enjoyed it nor despised it. She just continued to remain emotionless through the whole ordeal.

_"I don't understand,"_ Dawn thought._ "Why would Buneary do this? Why would she just decide to change sides and work for J? I guess I really screwed up big time."_

"It's time to finish this," Hunter J said. "Buneary, use Bounce again."

Buneary crouched down low before springing up high into the air. She soon began coming down, her feet pointed downward as she closed in on Ambipom who was too hurt to move.

_"Why didn't I just do as Paul told me and stay hidden? I wish I wasn't so weak,"_ Dawn thought as she thought back to her fatal mistake she made.

--

__

(Minutes earlier)

Dawn felt all the air leave her lungs as she stared out at who was coming off of J's plane. It wasn't J or her henchmen following, it was one pokemon she knew. Of course, there were actually two pokemon, but her shock was aimed at the rabbit pokemon as she followed out close to J.

Dawn couldn't believe her eyes. Buneary, her own pokemon, was not only on Hunter J's ship, but from how it looked, she was actually with J, like she was on her team. J stopped at the bottom of the ramp as her men formed up in front of her. Dawn was in complete hearing range as she listened to J's orders.

"All right men," she said. "Pikachu should be somewhere in this lake. Find him and bring him back to the plane. My client should be showing up soon, so we have no time to fool around. Get to work."

"Yes ma'am," the men said with a salute as they began splitting up and walking towards the lake.

Dawn realized that her and Paul's hiding spot would be revealed minutes after J's men entered the lake. All one had to do was turn towards them and immediately spot the both of them Then Pikachu would be in even more danger.

Despite what Paul had told her to do, she had to act fast. Taking a deep breath, Dawn jumped out from behind the tree she was hiding behind and yelled, "Hunter J, give me back my Buneary."

Everyone stopped and turned towards her upon hearing her, including J.

"Well if it isn't the little pipsqueak of that group with Pikachu," J said, smirking. "Where're your pretty, little friends at?"

"None of your business," Dawn said angrily. "I just want you to give me back Buneary."

"I'm afraid that your Buneary won't be going back to you any time soon," J said. "She chose teaming up with me to find your friend's Pikachu."

"I don't believe you," Dawn yelled. "It's just a lie. You brainwashed her somehow."

"I didn't expect you to," J said. "That's why I have a witness. Meowth."

Meowth stepped forward, guilt written all over his face.

"I'm not surprised to see that betrayal is always your specialty," Dawn said.

"You have no idea of what's really going on here," Meowth said. "I was with Buneary when she joined J's team. And I'm on the same side."

"More lies," Dawn said.

"Fine, don't believe me," Meowth said. "I think I'll let Buneary do all the speaking, that is if she wants to talk."

"Buneary, you remember me, don't you? It's me, Dawn."

Buneary spoke and Meowth translated.

"She says that she very well knows who you are. But what J says is true. She and I agreed to partner up and show people the pain of a pokemon's true desire. And there's nothing you can do or say to return her to you. She's made her choice and she'll fight you if she has to to prove her point."

Dawn gasped in shock upon hearing this. She wouldn't believe that what Buneary had said could be true. But could it?

"Buneary, you don't really mean what you say, do you?" Dawn asked fearfully.

("I do,") Buneary replied with a nod.

Dawn gasped even more, feeling her breath leaving her again. Silence occurred for quite a while as everyone stared between Dawn and Buneary. Finally, Dawn slowly reached down for the only pokeball she had, the whole time her hand shook.

"Well then," Dawn said slowly, her heart throbbing in pain. "If you really want to join with J, I'm afraid I'm not going to let you go that willingly. You're going to have to fight against me to show me just how much J means more than I."

("Fine then,") Buneary said, causing Dawn to wince, even though she couldn't understand what Buneary was saying, the tone made it clear that Buneary had no problem with it.

"Ambipom, come on out," Dawn said, releasing the two tailed monkey who was quite surprised upon seeing Buneary with J. "Don't hold anything back," Dawn said hurtfully. "If Buneary decides to be our enemy, then don't show her any mercy."

("Then I won't show her none either,") Ambipom said, quickly recovering from the shock.

Hunter J's henchmen all began walking back towards J to protect her and take place of Buneary, but J halted them, deciding to allow Buneary to fight to show her worth.

"Let's begin," she said.

--

Dawn stared helplessly as Buneary came down upon Ambipom who was too hurt and too weak to move from the incoming Bounce attack. She knew that once Ambipom could no longer move, Buneary would definitely be no longer hers. She would be long to J forever, helping her gather the most valuable pokemon and auction them off to other trainers who would only be cruel and show no compassion for them.

"It's over," J said as Buneary finally was practically on top of Ambipom.

However, just as Buneary was just about to land on Ambipom, she was knocked aside suddenly by a jet of water and went toppling into one of J's henchmen, knocking him to the ground.

Dawn was snapped out of her shock as the stream of water did a loop in the air and landed, the water ceasing to reveal an orange two tail otter.

"Buizel!?" Dawn said in surprise.

("That's me!") Buizel said, giving her a thumbs up and a wink.

"Hey!" a voice yelled close by. "Dawn!"

Dawn turned to see her black hair, blue jacket friend running towards her. Seeing him caused Dawn to sigh with great relief. Close by him was Piplup, running as fast as she could to get back to her trainer.

"Ash," Dawn said, somewhat happily as she felt herself collapse. Luckily Ash got to her in time to catch her.

"Hey," he said, looking confused. "Are you all right?"

"Ash," Dawn said. "J."

Ash blinked and looked over to see Hunter J there, standing right in front of her plane. To her side were her henchmen. Of course, Ash wasn't too worried about them. Buizel could handle his own against them. But he glared at the pokemon next to J.

"Meowth," he said angrily. "Should have realized betrayal was always your specialty."

Meowth looked down in what seemed to be guilt maybe? But as always, Ash wasn't in the mood to listen to anything.

"You are clearly beginning to get on my nerves," J said angrily. "You don't realize how much trouble you cause me every time we run into each other."

"Yeah well capturing pokemon to sell them off isn't something I'm going to let happen," Ash said. "I'll be able to beat you just like last time and send you packing."

"Big words from such a young boy," J said. "Fine then. I accept your challenge. Let's just see how well you do against me."

"Fine," Ash said as he went and reached for the only other pokeball that was full. However, just as he was about to take it from his belt, Dawn's hand caught his.

"Ash wait," she said. "You can't."

"I have to," Ash said. "I won't let her get away with kidnapping anymore pokemon."

"She has Buneary," Dawn said.

"I'll rescue her then," Ash said, but Dawn's hand held firm.

"You don't understand, Ash," she said, upset now. "Buneary's on J's side."

That stopped Ash. He looked at her with surprise as she stared back at him, her eyes showing nothing but truth in them. Ash felt his arm go limp as it fell away from his belt. For once, he was at a loss of words.

Slowly turning around, Ash stared over at the rabbit pokemon who was making her way back over to J. Ash really couldn't believe his eyes. Buneary, one of Dawn's pokemon, sided to J's team? It just couldn't be.

Buizel looked just as shocked. Piplup could only stand behind him, trying to hold back the tears trying to escape. J smirked in victory, having the advantage she thought she would never have.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" she said. "To know that someone that was a part of you decided to turn her back upon you. And here we stand, at a stalemate. I can't let you keep interfering with my business, and you can't let me continue doing what I do. So, one of us is going to have to break the stalemate first."

Ash flinched, knowing the options at hand. Be taken captive and continue to allow J to auction pokemon forever, or defeat her here and now. But in doing so, he would have to take out Buneary as well. And that was something he couldn't do, for Dawn's sake. There had to be another option to choose. There had to be.

Ash felt a bit woozy, seeing Buneary betray them. He felt like he wanted to faint. Buneary may not mean much to him, but she had always been a part of the family. And like family, he cared very much for her as he would for anyone else's pokemon. Blinking, Ash broke the silence by turning to Dawn.

"How could this have happened?" he asked her.

Dawn's only response was a weak shrug as J chuckled victoriously.

"Well I think I wasted enough time with you annoyances," she said. "It's time to finish you both off once and for all. Buneary, Meowth, take evasive action."

Buneary, emotionless, was in the position to leap and attack while Meowth ran up beside her, ready to follow orders. Ash knew that only one would lose the fight, and it pained him that it had to be against Buneary.

"Well we better do this," he said at last, catching Dawn in surprise.

"What!?"

"We have no other choice," Ash said. "It's either us or them. And I know you don't want to battle your own pokemon. Trust me, I don't want to either. But we have to do what we have to do."

Dawn looked down in defeat. She knew Ash was right. It would hurt her to lose Buneary. There was no other Buneary like this one that could help win Contest competitions. But she had to push away the pain until after the job was done. Showing weakness now would cause her and Ash to lose.

"All right," she said sadly as she got up, pushing the pain away as best she could. "I'll do it. Even if Buneary realizes what she has done, I'm sure she'd want the same thing we're thinking of now."

"I'm sorry," Ash said.

"I know," Dawn said, grabbing Ambipom's pokeball and retuning him. She sniffed once and wiped away any tears that were staining her face. "Piplup, get ready for battle."

Piplup nodded sadly, knowing she had to do what was told of her, despite the pain she was feeling.

"You too, Buizel," Ash said.

Buizel gave a nod and encouraged Piplup to not hold anything back, to view it as a practice battle.

"So," J said. "Before we begin, any last words either of you would like to say?"

"I would" Ash said, a question that has been bugging him for what seemed like infinity. "What'd you do with Pikachu?"

"He slipped through my clutches, unfortunately," J answered. "So don't bother asking any more questions."

"So you haven't captured and auctioned him off yet?" Ash asked, still serious, though his heart jumped with joy to know that Pikachu was still safe somewhere.

"If I had, I wouldn't be here having this battle with you," J said. "Once I take care of you two, I'll find Pikachu and hand him over to my patiently waiting client."

"Who just so happens to wonder why that pokemon is in the state he is in at the moment," came an all too familiar voice, one all who have heard many times before.

Ever so slowly, all turned to the only person speaking who was standing feet behind Ash and Dawn with a wrapped up creature in his arms.


	20. Chapter 20

She knew who that person was, the one who had just spoken and sent everyone into stunned silence. The boy with the mean glare. Confusion clouded her mind as she looked at him, as did everyone else. What was he doing here? Of course, Ash and Dawn were also thinking the same thing.

"Paul," Ash said, surprised, but not as much as Dawn was. "What are you doing here? And what's going on?"

The boy, Paul, glanced over at Ash, his expression the same as always when she ran into him.

"What does it look like to you?" Paul said snobbishly. "I'm one of Hunter J's clients."

"So you're the one that wants Pikachu?" Ash said, surprised at first, but then glared at him. "Of course, I shouldn't be that surprised, being that you're always looking for strong pokemon. I should have figured it was a matter of time before you came after Pikachu."

"You really have no clue what's going on here, do you?" Paul asked.

"Oh I think I know exactly what's going on," Ash said. "You're always looking for the strongest pokemon to capture. So you heard about Hunter J and decided to join her ranks to catch the strongest pokemon for yourself."

She saw Paul smirk, obviously realizing that was exactly what it meant. Though she didn't show it, she was extremely angry that he would want Pikachu a part of his team. A part of her always feared that it would happen some day. And today was that day.

"Well if you're looking for Pikachu, he's not here," Ash said.

However, Dawn, she noticed, winced at those words. Paul noticed as well, seeing the look on her face. Something was up, that much she knew.

"Actually," Paul said. "He is."

For the first time, she saw that Paul had his jacket in his arms. She watched as Paul unfolded his jacket and the horrified expression upon Ash's face.

("_No,_") she thought, her heart leaping up to her throat as her mind immediately jumped to conclusions. She went to rush forward, but she felt a paw grab hers. She looked back to see Meowth holding her paw and shaking his head, letting her know that it was not safe. She turned her head back to Ash, Dawn, and Paul as Ash tried speaking.

"Pi...ka...chu," he said, barely making it out. "Wh-What happened?"

Ash went to reach out to take him and hold him, but froze as Hunter J spoke.

"Well I think that all has turned out quite perfectly, despite the condition Pikachu is in," she said. "So all that's left is the payment."

Ash turned to her, anger flaring back in his eyes as he went to yell out something, but Paul spoke out first.

"Payment?" he questioned.

"You do remember, don't you?" J asked. "I bring you Pikachu in return for keeping those nosy brats out of our way for good. I expect you to live up to your agreement."

"If it weren't for one tiny detail," Paul said. "If you remember correctly, the conditions were that you bring Pikachu to me, unharmed. And yet here in my arms lie Pikachu, the way he is now. So the deal's off."

"Too bad you had to choose that option," J said, obviously smirking. J always had a back up plan ready in case something should not go her way. "You'll regret breaking a deal."

"A deal that was based on my terms," Paul said angrily. "And you failed to keep up your end of the bargain. What's worst is that you completely lied to me when I asked if you had Pikachu. You never lost his trail. You knew exactly where he was. So you broke the deal first."

J was silent, but growled slightly. Ash and Dawn were looking back and forth between Pual and J, obviously lost on what really was going on.

"You were never planning on letting me keep Pikachu," Paul went on. "After you handed him over to me, you would have waited until I took care of these guys for you, keeping watch over me until I did my job. Then you would ambush me and reclaim Pikachu for yourselves."

She looked up at J in time to flinch. Her heart burned with fury at the idea J would do such a thing.

"That flinch proves I'm right," Paul said, still remaining his expression.

"Of course you're right," J said. "Pikachu's power is far beyond all others. With him by my side, I'd be unstoppable. Still, there will always be time for that. My pokemon are a lot stronger than yours. I'll rid you all and still get what I want."

J reached down and grabbed a pokeball from her belt, readying it for battle.

"My Drapion and Salamence will be more of a match against your pokemon."

She knew they would be. After Drapion and Salamence were both defeated, they were placed in the special recharge containment to restore their health.

"We'll just test that theory," Paul said as he reached down and went to grab what she assumed would be a pokeball as well.

But rather than drawing out the regular red and white ball, he drew out a black box and spoke into it.

"Now," he said, drawing startled looks on everyone's faces, including her own.

Nothing happened for the first few seconds, but then a loud, shrilly whistle filled the air as bushes rustled and feet trampled all around. She looked wildly about as men in blue uniforms came popping up from nowhere and surrounded everyone, and by everyone, that meant Paul, Ash, Dawn, J, her men, and the pokemon that were already out.

"You!" J said angrily. "You tricked me."

"I had no intention of actually doing business with you," Paul said, surprising Ash, Dawn, Piplup, Buizel, and even her. "I just had to keep you busy until the time was right."

J growled as someone, a female with blue green hair and also in a blue uniform, parted some of the officers so she could walk through. She knew ho this woman was. She appeared in most towns and cities she and her friends visited.

"Officer Jenny!?" Ash said, surprised.

"Hunter J," Jenny said. "We've finally caught you at last. You are under arrest for capturing and selling off pokemon to corporate trainers and scientists."

J growled as Jenny reached for her own pokeball. But J always had a plan in mind. She watched as J threw the ball up into the air yelling, "Salamence, Smoke Screen!"

The dragon type pokemon burst forth from the ball and immediately spat out a cloud of black smoke, which covered everyone in it.

"Don't let her and her men escape!" Jenny yelled before having to cover her mouth to cough.

Even she had to cover her mouth because of the smoke. Her eyes burned from the smoke and she had no choice but to keep them closed. However, she felt a paw grab hers and pull her away in one direction. She didn't go far though. The smoke was beginning to clear up as she stopped and listened to J's plane taking off.

--

J pounded a fist upon the arm of her chair in anger. Never in her whole life had she been tricked, ever. She had always been defeated before, but not like this. It humiliated her to even think about it.

"Damn those kids," she growled. "Especially the client that tricked me. I have never been so humiliated in my entire life."

"So where to now, ma'am?" one of her few remaining men asked.

"Away from here," J replied. "Far away. We're going to need new members and think up a new plan to rid those brats for good. We'll be back some day to finish the job. And then will we be able to continue our work."

"Yes ma'am!" the men said in unison.

Of course, being tricked wasn't the only thing J was steamed about.

_"Buneary and Meowth have betrayed my trust," _she thought._"When I return, they'll receive no mercy. I'll give them to the cruelest, the most meanest trainers in the world. I'll be invincible. No one will be able to stop me."_

How wrong she was about that. Almost immediately as the plane began moving forward from the lake, someone suddenly popped out from seemingly nowhere.

("Hello!") the being said, holding some strange object in its hand.

J stared down and blinked in confusion.

"Where did this Jigglypuff come from?" she asked as the object went right to the Jigglypuff's mouth.

--

There were several things he noticed once the smoke cleared from the turbines on J's plane. One, almost all of J's men were jumped upon by most of the officers that were surrounding them at the time. Two, Buneary and Meowth were over by the other officers rather than with J, which confused him a little. Three, J was gone, indicating that she got away, again. And four, Jessie, James, and Brock were seen running down towards them.

"Ash!" came Brock's familiar voice. "Are you and Dawn all right?"

"We're fine," Ash replied. "I'll explain everything later."

"Oh no," he heard Officer Jenny say. "Hunter J's getting away. We need to send out the report to find and capture J."

"Uh, ma'am," an officer said, pointing up at the plane.

Everyone stared after it in confusion as it just hovered there, not moving anywhere.

"What do you think is going on?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know," Ash said.

But shortly, the question was answered as the plane began to lower down again, crashing into the ground rather than landing gently. Everyone was confused that J would do something like this. Was she so humiliated that she decided to try and blow the plane up?

"Men, force open the hatch and move in," Jenny said, taking evasive action.

At least twenty officers went running in once the ramp was lowered. A minute later, they all came walking out, practically dragging their handcuffed victims behind them. Everyone else looked on in confusion.

We found them all asleep when we entered," one of the officers said. "The only one awake was this Jigglypuff."

Being carried out by an officer was a round, pink pokemon who was looking quite angry as her eyes were turned toward the ground.

"Hey I know that Jigglypuff," Ash said, pointing. "She's not on J's team."

"How can you be so sure?" Jenny asked, eyeing Ash suspiciously.

"Because she's wild," Ash replied. "She's also from Kanto and has my marker."

"I don't know," Jenny said suspiciously.

"It's true," Brock said from out of the circle. Jenny turned towards him. "I was with Ash when this happened."

"Fine," Jenny said, rolling her eyes. "I guess you all have no reason to lie being that you're with Paul."

_"Oh yeah,"_ Ash thought, turning to Paul. _"I didn't know you were working with the police."_

"Are you stupid?" Paul asked angrily, getting a glare from Ash. "Do you not remember that we have a grave situation?"

It took Ash half a second to figure out what Paul was talking about. He went back to worrying as his heart began pounding with worry.

"Pikachu!" he said. "We have to get him to the Pokemon Center."

"Hold on!" Jenny yelled. "No one's going anywhere until we're through here."

"I'm sorry, officer," Paul said. "But this is a matter of life and death."

He unwrapped his jacket that covered Pikachu and showed Officer Jenny his situation. Jenny gasped in shock at the state Pikachu was in.

"Go then," she said. "Hurry. But I'll be expecting to question you all when he gets better."

"Come on," Paul growled as the officers cleared a pathway.

Paul took off running with Brock, James, and Jessie behind them. Ash followed, glaring at Buneary and Meowth who tagged along behind at a slower pace. Buizel was next to follow, carrying Ambipom. Jigglypuff, being that Ash and Brock proved her on no one's side, was let down and followed as well, concerned for Pikachu. Dawn and Piplup brought up the rear as they all ran to the Pokemon Center where Pikachu was immediately taken into care.


	21. Chapter 21

"O.K," Brock said, staring Meowth straight in the face. "So let me get this straight. You and Buneary joined up with Hunter J, but then pretended to serve her until we came and got you?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it pretending really," Meowth said. "I had no choice but to worm my way out of trouble. I had already exposed myself in front of J. It was the only thing I could do to prevent myself from being auctioned off. But look on some of the bright side. At least I saved Buneary's skin as well."

"I have to agree," Brock said with a nod. "I think you did very well, Meowth."

"You do!?" Meowth asked, shocked.

"I do," Brock said. "If it weren't for you, who knows what could have happened to Buneary. Dawn would have been so devastated, she would completely cease on going to contests."

"Well I'm actually I did something right for once," Meowth said, smiling proudly. "Of course, this doesn't mean we're going to be friends a week from today or tomorrow."

"I don't expect it to last that long," Brock said. "You do your job and I do mine."

"Exactly," Meowth said, turning his head towards the doors that led into the back of the Pokemon Center. "You think he'll make it?"

Brock looked where Meowth was looking and became gravely silent.

"I don't know," he said quietly.

Upon returning to the Pokemon Center, Pikachu was immediately taken to the back for special care. Hours that passed only seemed like minutes. And still not one thing was heard of Pikachu's condition.

"I've always known Pikachu to be strong," Brock said. "But even he has his limits."

Meowth was silent as he continued to stare. Sure he, Jessie, and James were always after him, but when it came to something big, they were always right there to care for Pikachu.

"So, um, I hate to break the subject of Pikachu, but someone mind explaining what's up with that Jigglypuff?" Dawn asked, referring to the Jigglypuff that was watching all the other pokemon walk about in their gloomy moods.

"It's kind of a long story," Brock said. "You see, back in the Kanto region, when another friend of ours by the name of Misty was traveling with Ash and I, we arrived in this city where no one ever slept. Everyone was rude to each other and fights broke out. The three of us left the city the next morning and we came across Jigglypuff. At the time she couldn't sing."

"Sing?" Dawn asked.

"That's the thing," Brock said. "After we gave Jigglypuff some fruit to clear her voice, she had the ability to use Sing. But one side effect of Sing is that it puts whoever listens to Jigglypuff sing to sleep."

"And then what happens?" Dawn asked.

"Well, normally we all wake up with markings on our faces," Brock replied. "Jigglypuff somehow slipped into Ash's backpack and stole his marker."

"And Jigglypuff's had it ever since?" Dawn asked.

"Pretty much," Brock said. "And ever since we found Jigglypuff, she's been following us all over the world just to sing her song. All she wants is someone to listen to her without falling asleep. But that's very hard to do."

"I see," Dawn said, staring at Jigglypuff. Her eyes remained focused upon her for several seconds before they moved onto Paul.

"What?" he asked, feeling her eyes upon him.

"I was going to ask you a question," Dawn said, a little angry at what he said. "But I think I won't."

"If that suits you," Paul said, keeping his gaze focused forward.

"But then again, I suppose you really could care less if I asked you anything, couldn't you?" Dawn said.

Paul remained silent. Dawn's left eye began to twitch a bit.

"You really drive me crazy, you know that?" she asked.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Paul said.

"The big deal?" Dawn yelled. "The big deal? The big deal is that you were involved with the police to capture J and you had no intention of telling us what you were really doing at the lake in the first place!"

"Geez you're loud," Paul growled. "You think that if I had told you it would have made a bit more difference? You wouldn't have let me finish anyway. So not telling you was the best thing I could have done."

"Just how did you end up working with the police anyway?" Brock asked.

"Officer Jenny asked for my help in capturing Hunter J," Paul explained. "After she told me what Hunter J does, I agreed to help. The way she catches pokemon and then auction them off to others disgusts me. I wouldn't have worked for her if I were the last person on the planet."

"So then you aren't interested in capturing Pikachu because of his power?" Dawn asked.

"Is interrogation over?" Paul asked. "I really don't have to explain myself to you."

Dawn went to go make another comment, but Brock placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her as she saw him shake his head. Paul got up and began walking towards the exit.

"Well I'm out of here," he said. "Whether Pikachu makes it out or not depends on how strong he really is."

And with that said, Paul walked out from the Pokemon Center. Dawn and Brock stared after him long after he left.

--

She sat alone in a corner of the Pokemon Center, huddled up, trying to blend in with the shadows and hope to never be seen. But she didn't seem to really notice where she was exactly at the moment. She felt lost, like she was in another world of her own. A world where nothing but darkness existed.

It felt cold as she envisioned herself floating in an endless void of darkness. There was nothing to see but the darkness itself. She felt something that she had never felt before. It felt as though her world had suddenly collapsed around her.

Inside, she was hurting. She felt like her heart was painfully ripped open, like it was being tortured by some unknown force that she couldn't stop. All she wanted was for the pain to stop, but she knew it would never cease, for she knew why she was feeling the pain that caused so much torture within her.

Her love, the only pokemon she had ever loved since she laid eyes upon him, was now fighting for his life. And it was entirely her fault. This she knew. And it chewed her up from the inside.

("_If only I hadn't joined J's team, none of this would have happened,_") she sadly thought. ("_If only I had given it some time he may have eventually come to liking me. I might have not enjoyed the waiting, but it would have been worth it._")

Suddenly, her eyes caught a glimpse of someone walking up to her. Her eyes furrowed into a glare as she said angrily, ("Leave me alone, Turtwig.")

("No,") Turtwig answered her. ("I'm not going to. If I leave now, you're just going to continue to push yourself away from everybody until you become your own worst enemy that nobody will love you or pay any attention to you. I'm here to talk and I'm not leaving until I say my peace.")

("Fine,") she said sighing, turning her head away as Turtwig sat down. ("So I suppose you're going to tell me that I screwed up big time?")

("I don't need to,") Turtwig said. ("You pretty much admitted that on your own.")

Silence followed for several more moments before Turtwig spoke again.

("So what exactly caused you to turn your back on us and attack Pikachu?") Turtwig asked, though he already knew the answer.

("I thought you would know already,") Buneary said.

("I do,") Turtwig said, sighing. ("You know, love has a funny way of blinding us. We don't see because we're afraid. But once love has been stripped away, we see the person for who they truly are. Even if it is ourselves.")

"Turtwig's right you know," Meowth said, walking over. "Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but overhear."

Buneary stayed silent as Meowth sat down, forming a triangle between him, her, and Turtwig.

("And what would you want?") Turtwig asked, eyeing Meowth suspiciously.

"I thought I'd just come over and explain to you what really happen," Meowth replied. "After all, I was there to witness da whole ting."

("And why should I believe you?") Turtwig asked.

"Because Buneary was there as my witness," Meowth replied.

Turtwig glanced over at Buneary who remained in the position she huddled in and turned back to Meowth.

("Well hate to break it to you, but I know the reason why,") Turtwig said.

"Well it sure didn't sound like that to me," Meowth said.

("I'm just a little over cautious right now,") Turtwig said.

"Well look on the bright side," Meowth said. "J's been arrested and Buneary's back. Of course, the not so bright side lies in that room back there."

At those words, Buneary winced, striking her heart like a hammer.

"But you know, I have to agree with Turtwig," Meowth said. "Love blinded you to do something so foolish, and in the process you got me into it. Of course, I should have been smart enough to stay away, but by doing so, you would have been captured. So I thought up of the best way to save both our necks and told J I could be of some use to her."

("But what am I going to do now?") Buneary asked, her voice practically upset. ("I'm the cause of Pikachu's injuries. What if he doesn't make it? It will be all my fault.")

("I hate to say it, but you do have a point there,") Turtwig said. Meowth nodded in agreement.

("Ever since I laid eyes on him, I've been nothing but in love with Pikachu,") Buneary said. ("I've done everything I could to get him to try and like me back, but he's never shown any interest. I didn't want to live the rest of my life waiting for him to return the feelings I had for him and part from him heartbroken.")

Meowth and Turtwig were silent as the ticking of the clock was the only thing heard in the Center. After a long period of silence, Meowth got up as his stomach growled.

"Well, I hope you make the right decisions from here on out, Buneary," Meowth said. "Just make sure the choice you make is the one you wish to live with for the rest of your life."

With a small, grim smile, Meowth slowly dragged his feet away to find something to eat and possibly try to comfort the others.

Turtwig also got up and began making his way towards the others, adding, ("I agree with Meowth. Make sure it's what you want. I'm not going to continue to sit here and mope about it. I'm going to try and help take some of the uneasiness off the others.")

And so Buneary was left alone once again, only this time, to ponder her thoughts and the actions she should take.

--

He sat there, staring down at the floor, his body trembling violently. He couldn't believe this was happening. His friend, his best friend that has been with him since the beginning of his pokemon journey, was now fighting for his life. Shock and grief plagued him but mostly just shock for the time being. The grief would come at a later time when the news on his best friend was given, if it wasn't the best news, that is.

Sitting on each side of him were Jessie and James, both equally concerned and anxious to know Pikachu's condition. Jessie was sitting with her arms folded and also staring down at the floor. Every couple seconds or so, she would glance up towards the door, expecting the light to go off and for Nurse Joy to walk out and say that everything was going to be all right.

James was leaning forward, his chin resting upon his hands as he stared blankly at the wall across from him. Not a word came from the three, especially from Ash since he's been back. It was quite difficult to find something to say when a pokemon was dearly close to its trainer and its life was in danger of being lost forever.

Finally, after hours if silence, James softly asked, "Do you think it's going well in there?"

Jessie glared over at him, a look of irritation in her eyes.

"Don't get angry with me," James said. "Someone had to break this uncomfortable silence. Besides, I can't really stand them."

"I know," Jessie sighed, losing her glare. "But what else are we supposed to say? We're just sitting here staring in random directions. And Ash here is just as guilty."

"What?" Ash asked, looking up at her after a long silence of shock. "Guilty for what?"

"I don't know," Jessie said, placing a hand on her forehead. "I just have to say something to keep from going crazy."

Huffing angrily, Jessie stormed off.

"What's her problem?" Ash asked.

"She's just trying to cope with this stress as are the rest of us," James responded. "Pikachu's condition affects us all differently. Jessie and I hate uncomfortable silences. We need to say something to ease off the tension a bit."

"Yeah," was all Ash said as he turned his attention towards the door. He immediately fell silent and remained that way for a while again, still not believing that this was all happening, that it wasn't a dream and in fact, real.

"You and Pikachu seem to be really close," James said, staring at Ash.

"We are," Ash said, keeping his gaze fixed on the door. "Since the day I began my pokemon journey, Pikachu and I have always been inseparable. Well, except the few times me and my friends got blasted off along with you, especially that time you used Pikachu's amnesia to your advantage and turned him against us."

"Oh yeah," James said, turning his head away. "But it's what we do."

"Of course, there was that other time me and my friends ended up running into that Pikachu clan," Ash continued. "Pikachu could have left me for good to stay with them, but he cared too much for me to stay."

"I wish I had friends like Pikachu," James said. "I'm jealous."

Ash let out a small chuckle and smiled a bit, which, in turn, got James to smile as well.

"Guess I still have some charms left," he said.

Ash's smile faded as he returned his attention to the doors. James also followed his gaze and stared at hem for quite a while before turning back to Ash.

"You know you look pretty tired," he said, noticing how tired Ash was looking from sitting there for so long.

"Now that you mention it, I do feel sleepy," Ash said with a yawn. "I guess normally worrying over something this big causes me to want to go and nod off."

"Then why don't you?" James suggested. "I'll wake you up when Nurse Joy comes out."

"O.K.," Ash said with another yawn. "You know something, even though you're my enemy, you're really a nice guy, James."

Before blacking out, Ash saw James smile widely, almost as if he got his first compliment from him ever.

--

It must have been sometime in the evening when he was gently shaken awake. Opening his eyes, he looked up and found James lightly shaking him until he was up.

"What's going on?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Nurse Joy just finished," Brock said. "She should be coming out any minute now."

Ash was wide awake now. He got up and noticed that everyone was there. Jessie, James, Brock, Dawn, and even the pokemon. Of course, he noticed that Buneary lingered back away from the group some. Ash didn't quite understand why she was where she was, but figured that she must have been worried as well as everyone else has been.

Ash then slowly turned about at the sound of a creaking door. Everyone held their breaths as Nurse Joy came slowly walking out.

****

For everyone who has been reading my story, thank you so much for leaving reviews. But now I'm at a part where I can't decide what's going to happen next. So please review and leave some ideas on what should happen. Or you can PM me. Thank you!


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks to Yaris09, i finally found a good ending to write. But this chapter was a bit difficult to write. I hope you all enjoy and leave some reviews!**

The room was entirely silent as they all stood, staring at the doors that were slowly opening. Out came the familiar nurse that everyone knew so well, walking very slowly, slower than normal, to be exact. Not one person dared breath as she fully came out from the back and stopped, standing before them.

Silence occurred for quite some time. No one dared asked the one question that has been going through their mind as they all stood there, anxious to hear the news. Finally, after some time of dead silence, Ash took a few steps forward and stopped before the nurse.

"Nurse Joy," he said with a grim tone.

The nurse slowly raised her head up, her eyes slowly meeting Ash's gaze. They were the eyes that held not only concern and worry, but fear as well. The kind of fear for the one that was most closest to him. The kind of fear that didn't want to believe in the news that could change his entire personality. The kind of fear that would end it all if it was what the fear had expect.

"Is Pikachu alright?"

Nurse Joy took a deep breath. Everyone tensed, knowing that the moment was at hand when they would learn of Pikachu's fate. And Nurse Joy exhaled saying, "All I can say is that there is good news, bad news, and worse news."

"Well then give us the good news," Ash said, feeling hope rise inside of him upon hearing that there was good news.

"The good news is that Pikachu is going to be all right," Nurse Joy said, her mouth curling into a smile.

Everyone sighed a big relief and smiled at Pikachu's near-death recovery.

"Can we see him?" Ash asked.

"If you do, you will learn of the bad and worse news," Nurse Joy said. "But, being that you'll see him in the condition he's in anyway, I will take you to him."

_"Condition!?"_ Ash thought, his heart leaping to his throat.

Everyone slowly walked behind Nurse Joy as she led everyone into the back to see Pikachu. Only one remained behind. And it pained her to even go back there to see him in fear of what he would say and what would happen.

Fear rose in everyone's' hearts as they neared the room Pikachu was in, afraid to see what condition Pikachu would be in. Images of a disconfigured Pikachu filled their minds as they all arrived at the door. Hard as they tried, the images of Pikachu's disconfigured body would not be pushed away so easily.

Finally, after minutes of anxiety to see Pikachu, Nurse Joy slowly opened the door, the room slowly revealing the more the door swung open. Finally, Pikachu came intoview as Nurse Joy moved away to allow the others to see. All gasped as they stared at the electric rat.

Lying upon a bed, Pikachu was seen with a needle embedded in his left arm, nourishing him with food. He had a bandage upon his left shoulder, his right arm was stitched up as well as the very long cut streaking diagonally across his body, the cut right below where his heart was. Pikachu lied motionless on the bed, staring at the wall blankly with no expression on his face.

His ears pricked up and twitched upon hearing everyone gasp and turned his head a bit. Recognition flashed across his eyes as he stared at the group before him. His mouth curled into a small smile.

("Hi guys,") he said weakly.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried, rushing forward and dropping down onto his knees.

He went to place a hand upon Pikachu, but thought better of it and kept it close to Pikachu's paw.

"I'm afraid that this is the bad news for Pikachu," Nurse Joy said sadly. "Though he's going to be all right, he's in a very bad condition."

No one said a word as they all just stared at what Pikachu looked like now.

"It's almost like I can't recognize him anymore," Dawn whispered hoarsely as her body began shaking.

Pikachu turned his head back straight forward and continued looking blankly at the wall, his smile fading until there was no expression on his face.

"So tell me," Brock said, struggling for words. "If Pikachu's condition is the bad news, then what's the worse news?"

Nurse Joy lowered her head slightly and spoke.

"He'll never be able to battle in his life ever again," she answered him.

Not one being breathed a word after that. It was almost like time itself had stood still. Pikachu was lying in bed, staring at the wall, wearing no expression. Ash was by his side, eyes wide with shock. Everyone else remained standing where they were, unable to move from their spot.

"I'm terribly sorry," Nurse Joy spoke at last after a long period of dead silence. "It was the only alternative we could proceed on aside from the grave option we could have chosen."

Everyone knew what she meant. They could have allowed Pikachu to die rather than save his life to let him live to see another day, but they refused to give up on a pokemon and did everything in their best care they could do to allow him to see many more days. But at the cost of never battling again severely cut a lot of power for Ash when he would have to battle again.

They all remained right where they were, staring at not only Pikachu, but at Ash as well. Pikachu meant the world to Ash. And seeing Pikachu in this condition was like breaking off a piece that belonged to Ash.

"No," Ash said at long last after no words came from him. "This can't be. There's got to be another alternative."

"We've done the best we could," Nurse Joy said. "There is no other alternative. No more operation can be done on Pikachu unless you wish him an early grave. What's done is done. From this day forward, Pikachu cannot, and I repeat, CANNOT ever participate in any battles you are in."

Nurse Joy was at the brink of tears now, also feeling the pain that everyone shared, even though she hadn't known them for very long. Brock decided to take full charge of the situation then to break the mood everyone was in.

"Hey," he said softly. "Why don't we leave the pokemon here for now? Ash, perhaps you should call your mom. Nurse Joy, do you have any tea or coffee or something?"

"I'll prepare something immediately to calm the nerves," Nurse Joy said, her body trembling.

"Allow me to assist," Jessie said, following. "You'll practically spill the tea on your way out."

Brock turned to Dawn and James and motioned them out before walking up to Ash.

"Come on," he said softly as he lifted him up. "Go call your mom. You'll feel better."

All Ash could do was nod his head slightly as he turned and walked out the door with Brock, leaving the pokemon in the room.

--

After Ash and Brock had walked out the door, he turned his head towards the bed which Pikachu laid upon. All the pokemon were silent as they each tried to find words, to say, but no words could be found. So, in place of everyone, he decided to speak.

("Would you prefer some company, Pikachu?")

A long silence followed after that. Thinking that Pikachu wanted to be left alone, he turned to the other pokemon and said in a low tone, ("Come on. Let's leave him be.")

As the pokemon turned and began walking out, they all stopped at the sound of Pikachu's weak voice.

("Just you, Turtwig,") Pikachu spoke.

Turtwig turned to the others and motioned for them to leave, which they did. Turtwig then walked towards the bed and hopped up upon it, trying his best to look at Pikachu despite the injuries he had.

("What do you wish to talk about?") Turtwig asked.

("I think you have a pretty general idea on whom I wish to talk about,") Pikachu said, keeping his still, emotionless face at the wall.

Turtwig tightened his jaw, wondering how he was going to handle the situation.

--

She remained right where she was after everyone went to the back to see Pikachu. On the one hand, she was a bit happy to know Pikachu was still alive, yet on the other hand, she was afraid to even hang around anyone after the terrible thing she had done. Meowth didn't have the problem she had. He wasn't the one that put Pikachu into the state he was in now.

Minutes later, still remaining where she was, almost everyone but Jessie, Nurse Joy, and Turtwig came right back out from seeing Pikachu. Brock was behind Ash, leading him over to some sort of green shaped box with a weird device next to a blank screen.

Brock pulled a chair over and picked up the device and sat there, waiting until the screen lit up to reveal a woman with brown hair and a pink shirt.

"Hello?" she said in a sweet tone. "Oh hi Ash, Brock. What's wrong?"

She immediately knew right away that there was something bad from seeing their faces. Almost immediately as she stopped talking, Ash burst into a long sob as the tears began spilling down all at once.

Brock, caught by surprised, tried calming Ash down, but he tears wouldn't stop coming. And he knew they wouldn't stop. It was too much for him to handle at the moment. Brock had to get James and Dawn to come and take him away while he explained the situation to the woman on the screen.

While Brock explained, Buneary tore her gaze and looked about the room. Ash was lead to another chair, being comforted by Dawn and James while he continued to sob. Over by the desk where Nurse Joy normally stands behind, Meowth was sitting with the Jigglypuff filling her in with what was going on.

Once, she glanced over towards Buneary quickly before returning her attention to Meowth. Buneary hung her head shamefully, feeling quite alone. And why shouldn't she feel that way. No one else turned against their friends to get back at Pikachu for something he never noticed. So what gave her the right to do something like that?

Most of the pokemon stopped and stared at the door, completely looking past her like she never existed. Of course, there was one pokemon she noticed that was looking right at her, but not in pity. She glanced up to see Chimchar sitting upon the desk, glaring angrily at her.

The glare only made her feel even more horrible inside. She felt her lip begin to quiver as the tears began to well up inside her. But she dare not cry now. At least not in front of everyone else. There was enough going on for anyone to care for her right at the moment. So, slowly trudging away from everyone, Buneary slowly made her way up the long flight of stairs, blocking out all the noise that was in activity.

Finding an empty room, Buneary walked in and shut he door behind her where she cried once more until she fell asleep.

--

("Wow!") Turtwig said as Pikachu finished talking. ("I'm surprised you actually feel that way after everything that's happened to you.")

("It's how I feel,") Pikachu said, keeping his gaze on the wall. ("I've been thinking long and hard about this and I finally realized that it is what I want.")

("I see,") Turtwig said. ("And I most certainly agree with the choice you have made. But I'm curious to know what you'll do if she feels differently.")

("Not sure,") Pikachu replied. ("I guess I'll just have to see what happens.")

("Well, I wish you good luck then,") Turtwig said as he leapt off the bed and headed on his way out.

("Turtwig,") Pikachu said, stopping him. ("Thanks. You're always there when you're needed.")

("It's what I do,") Turtwig said as he walked out. ("I hope it all works out for the best.")

("Me too, Turtwig,") Pikachu said. ("Me too.")


	23. Chapter 23

_A cold chill swept through her body, sending shivers along her back. The land she stood upon was quite soft, yet the air around was very cool. The sky was gray and very cloudy to where the sun couldn't penetrate. In fact, it looked like it could have rained at any moment, but yet, as her feet felt the ground, it became aware to her that the ground was damp with wetness._

_It truly felt like it rained, yet everything else around her was dry. Only the grass showed the little droplets of water still clinging to the many blades around her. The soil beneath her feet was a little muddy, making it slippery if she took a wrong step._

_Another cold blast of wind swept through her body, causing her to huddle up to herself to keep warm. But as suddenly as the wind came, it died down. She looked up the next moment and gasped at what was before her._

_Before her, planted into the ground which rose up before a mound of disturbed earth, was a grave stone. But it wasn't the grave stone itself that caused shock for her. It was the words written upon the grave stone, words that read:_

_R.I.P_

_PICKACHU._

_A forever beloved pokemon._

_("No,") she said. ("It can't be. He can't be dead.")_

_Her body trembled violently upon reading the grave stone. Beneath the surface of the earth, Pikachu laid buried deep below, rotting slowly to death. She tried to block out the image of his now rotting corpse, but the memory was now stuck within her mind._

_She placed a paw to her chest as her heart began hurting. She sank to her knees as a small whimper escaped her throat. She felt the hot tears brimming up to her eyes before they finally fell down her face, streaming like a river._

_("Pikachu, I'm sorry,") she cried._

_("How could you?") someone suddenly asked._

_She recognized the voice almost immediately and turned about. She immediately wished she hadn't. Behind her stood Pikachu. Only, he wasn't in the best condition she had expected to see him in._

_It was exactly like staring into the monster that was Pikachu that she thought of. Parts of his flesh were rotted out, exposing the skeleton beneath the flesh, his left arm hung limp by his side as he slowly walked towards her, his right arm was completely gone, and one ear was bent sideways, flopping over his head. All the meanwhile as he walked, he dragged his right foot behind him, moving ever so closer to her._

_("You did this to me,") he said with loathing in his voice._

_("No,") she whimpered, shaking her head. ("I'm so- I didn't mean to-")_

_("Now you're going to meet your end,") Pikachu said as he finally dragged himself right up to her._

_At first, nothing happened. She just stared into the dead, emotionless face of Pikachu. Then, everything went red as she gave off one last low moaning wail._

--

("No!") she yelled, sitting straight up.

Her breathing was fast as she looked around the area she was in. Her entire body was trembling violently. Sweat was dripping down her like she was in an oven. The area she was in was completely pitch black and it took her a while until her eyesight adjusted.

When her eyes became accustomed to the dark, she found that she was in a room that she remembered falling asleep in. Her breathing began slowing as did her fast beating heart.

("_It was only a dream,_") she thought. ("_But it sure felt like it was real._")

Not wishing to cling to the memory, Buneary walked out from the room she was in and out into the hallway. It was a lot less dark from the room when she walked out, but it was dark nonetheless.

("_It's already night out!?_") she thought, surprised. ("_I can't believe I slept for that long._")

Wondering how late it was, Buneary headed on down the stairs, not wishing to go into the room with everyone else. Arriving at the bottom, Buneary walked into the middle of the Center and glanced up at the clock.

The really short stick was on the ten while the long stick was on the two.

("_Wait a minute,_") she thought. ("_I can't tell time. What am I thinking coming down here?_")

The answer came to her painfully as her eyes turned towards the doors that led to the back to where Pikachu was. Almost immediately everything from the last few days hit her all at once and once again her heart began to hurt like before.

She quickly looked away and walked towards the desk to support herself. But she didn't stand for very long before she slumped to the ground and sat. No more tears were going to stream down her face. She had used every last one of them up. She could even still smell the tears from her final crying and even feel them stained dry.

All was silent in the moonlit room but the ticking of the clock. It was a full moon out and the light shone brighter through the windows before dimming. It did this every now and then as Buneary continued to sit, replaying everything she had done, along with the dream she had.

("_If anyone's the monster, it's me,_") she thought. ("_I've betrayed everyone's trust. Why would Dawn want a pokemon like me for? Maybe it would be better for everyone if I just disappeared and never came back._")

She got up and slowly made her way around the desk, trying hard not to glance back at the doors. Out of the corner of her eye as she went to glance back, she found something that looked quite interesting to her. Stopping, she turned towards the object and slowly picked it up.

She studied the sharp blade with her eyes as she ran her free paw along it. It felt cool, hard, and the edge was very sharp. She must have put a little too much pressure upon the blade, for she recoiled her paw immediately as she felt it being sliced open.

She lifted her paw to examine it and watched as blood seeped out through the cut. It stung, yet it felt a bit better to her. She then lightly placed the blade upon her arm and felt the sharpness along her flesh. Even though she wasn't applying any pressure against her arm, the cool, sharp blade still felt good to her misery.

She closed her eyes as she repeated the process, almost imagining feeling her arm being sliced by the sharp blade she felt. It diminished the misery she was feeling and replaced it with desire to need this feeling.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed that there was blood dripping out from her arm from the long cut she gave to herself. Her heart began beating faster, her joy taking great pleasure in this feeling. Her arm was completely numb, so she didn't wince from the pain.

She looked down at the blade and watched as her own blood ran down it and dripped to the floor. But the blood didn't hold her attention. It was the blade she was staring at. She felt like it was beckoning her to do the final act she was slowly coming around to thinking of. The desire was strong and overtook her immediately.

Ever so slowly, Buneary used her uninjured paw and flipped the blade around until the sharp end of the blade was pointing directly at her chest, right where her heart beat, telling her to thrust it inward.

Taking a deep breath, Buneary spoke out her final words.

("Good bye, Pikachu. Love me in another life.")

Just as she went to thrust the blade into her heart, a voice suddenly spoke out.

("You know, there are a series shortage of beautiful females in this world. It would be a shame to take yourself out of the competition.")

She knew that voice all too well. She had heard it many times before since joining the group. She gasped and turned her head towards the doors, dropping the blade in the process. The blade fell and made a clanging sound as it hit. It rang several times as it rattled upon the floor before coming deathly still.

Buneary's entire body was frozen as she stared wide-eye in surprise at the only pokemon up who stood before her. Standing feet before her, his skin a pale yellow from the light of the full moon showing a long scar across his chest, stood Pikachu, standing motionless before her.

Not only was Buneary surprised to see him there, but now she felt ashamed for what she was doing. His voice had snapped her back into reality in the nick of time. Her heart raced up again in humiliation and pain as she stared at him. Try as she might to look away, she couldn't. Seeing Pikachu out from bed completely surprised her, let alone seeing him here in front of her.

She tried to find words to speak, but none came to her. All she could do was stand and stare at Pikachu and watch as he moved his eyes about, studying her. A blush of embarrassment appeared on her face. She knew he would see the bloody arm dripping out like a stream. There was nothing she could do to keep him from seeing.

Finally, his eyes met hers, staring, like they were probing into her mind. Buneary could only gulp as she wondered what would happen next. She knew that the silence would have to break sometime and it didn't seem like Pikachu was going to be the one to break it. So she had to be the one to do so, as much as it pained her.

Struggling, Buneary asked the only thing she would have asked if she hadn't been the one to do what she did to Pikachu.

("Pikachu, wh-wh-what are you d-doing out of b-bed?") she asked, her trembling voice betraying her.

Pikachu continued to stare at her, not saying a word. Buneary didn't know what else to do except begin to wince as the pain from her arm began to hurt at last. She thought about turning around and finding something to stop the bleeding from her arm, but before she could, Piakchu answered her question.

("I was just going out for a walk,") he said.

Buneary returned her stare, totally not expecting him to answer her. What surprised her even more was that he moved towards her slowly until he was feet from her. They both stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever. Pikachu was the first to break the gaze and glanced down to Buneary's bleeding arm.

Buneary glanced down at Pikachu's right arm as he grasped her paw and looked at it. Even though it was stitched up, she still couldn't get over the fact that she was the one that caused Pikachu to have a deep gash cut along his arm.

("You're going to need to something to stop the bleeding,") Pikachu said softly, still looking at the bleeding cut.

She stood perfectly still as Pikachu grabbed some white sheets and tied them tight around her arm, trying to close the wound as best he could. Every now and then, he would grunt in pain from his own wounds.

Once he had the wound closed the best he could, he examined it for several more minutes before he stepped back, satisfied with his handiwork. Buneary snuck a glance at her arm, the wound pushed together to close it up and prevent it from bleeding any further. Though it didn't really help much. Blood still trickled down her arm, but not as much as it was earlier.

She looked back up to see Pikachu turned around and walking towards what she thought would be the back doors so he could lay down again, but he stopped and lingered for a moment before turning his head slightly back towards her.

("I want you to come with me,") he said. ("There is something I would like to talk to you about.")

He then began moving slowly around the desk and headed straight for the Center doors that led outside. She hesitated at first, not sure if she should follow. But she heard a swooshing sound, indicating that Pikachu was leaving the building. It was then she finally moved her feet and followed after him.


	24. Chapter 24

The pain wasn't that excruciating as he walked, but if he took a wrong step or moved a certain way, the pain would flare right back up again and he would have to stop briefly until the pain subsided. Once it subsided, he began walking again through the now empty town he was in.

The full moon provided enough light for him to see where he was going. Determination drove him to keep on going to get what he wanted to get done. Every now and then, he would stop and take a small peek behind him to see if Buneary was still there. He then focused his attention again and walked on when he saw that she was, though at a far enough distance from him.

Eventually, he arrived at the border of the town and kept on walking, heading straight into the woods. He knew where it was he wanted to go and speak with Buneary. He had to slow his pace down even further as he walked down the slope, which led directly to the lake.

Reaching the bottom after careful stepping, he stopped then, staring out at the lake, the moon's reflection shimmering off of it, making the area more better for him.

Just looking out over this scene made Pikachu relax, yet at the same time, a new wave of emotion swept through him. It was a feeling he liked, a feeling he desired to let out and tell. And there was only one being he wanted to tell off tonight.

His gaze broke away from the lake as Buneary slid down behind him and remained standing where she was, waiting for him to begin. He looked back towards the lake and memorized everything he had been wanting to say to her since the operation.

He shut his eyes and wondered where to begin. His body trembled, wondering how things would turn out after he finished speaking. Finally, after a long while of silence, Pikachu took a deep breath and exhaled as he opened his eyes and turned around to face Buneary.

--

She was quite confused why she was led this far out from the town they were in and at first thought that he was leading her into a trap. But she mentally slapped herself for thinking of such a thing.

("_Pikachu would never lead me into a trap,_") she thought. ("_Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to betray me after what I've done. After all, I deserve it._")

A long period of silence remained in the area as Pikachu gazed out over the lake, his back to her. The silence itself was quite uncomfortable for her, wondering what he was going to say or do to her. She moved her standing position every now and then to find a more comfortable position, but just standing grew tiring real fast.

Her gaze looked out over the lake as well, being entranced by the shimmering reflection of the moon. She winced a couple of times due to her throbbing arm. It still trickled out blood, but it apparently was starting to slow. The tightness of the sheets Pikachu tied to her kept as much blood from escaping as possible.

("_At least I'll get o see one last beautiful scenery like this,_") she thought. ("_It may be the last I'll ever get to see again._")

Her attention was finally brought back to Pikachu as he took a deep breath and sighed, turning around and facing her. She couldn't help looking down upon the scar that ran across his chest. The guilt flared right back up again as she averted her gaze to the grass she stood upon. Finally, after a long time of waiting, Pikachu spoke.

("You know something,") he began. ("When someone experiences near-death, it makes them think about the things they've done in their life and things that they didn't do that they wished they did. And then there are other things that that someone thinks about that makes them realize all the things they haven't seen before and what they've been missing out on.")

She remained silent the whole time he talked, keeping her gaze upon the ground. He then turned and walked towards the lake while continuing to speak.

("And normally when someone is close to death, the only thing they think about is 'Please Mew, don't let me die. Let me live to see another day and allow me to continue my life as it was.' They only think about themselves when experiencing death first hand. I was that same way too.")

She glanced up at him then, being that was the only thing she could think of doing.

("Every time I was separated from Ash, I would always hope to see him again and help him win so many more battles. But now I can no longer go on helping him. It will be up to the others to help him win the many battles that lie ahead. My journey seems to have come to its end with battling, but not with parting from Ash's side just yet.")

She felt her heart painfully throbbing against her chest, the guilt flaring about like crazy as she returned her attention upon the ground.

("But you know something, something different happened when I was tumbling through those currents. It's something I wouldn't have expected. For the first time ever, I really didn't care whether I lived or died. All I wanted to do was see your beautiful smiling face and let you know that everything was going to be alright.")

Her eyes widened at this. She wasn't sure if she heard correctly or not. So she had to go and ask.

("Wh-what?")

He paused for a couple seconds before continuing.

("That's the thing, Buneary. You were the only one I thought about the entire time I was underwater. I begged to Mew to let me see you one last time, and fate allowed me that chance. So here I stand, getting my chance to see you not only now, but probably for the rest of my life.")

She blinked in surprise, looking full at Pikachu, his back still to her.

("Wh-what are you saying, Pikachu?") she asked.

It was then he turned halfway towards her, a smile on his face and his eyes holding a dreamy look in them. She gasped speechlessly as Pikachu said the following words she never expected to hear from him.

(I'm still in love with you, Buneary,") he said.

A look of shock spread out across her face. She really couldn't believe what she had just heard. Pikachu, the only pokemon she ever loved and betrayed, hurting him in the process, was still in love with her, after everything she had done.

("H-How can you say such a thing like that?") she asked, bewildered. ("After everything I've done to you, how can you still say that?")

("I've had a long time to think,") he answered her. ("While I was being operated on, I weighed the pros and cons of the outcome. What you did was terribly wrong, yet at the same time, I'm glad you did so. Without you, Hunter J would have gotten away and this scar would have been all for nothing.")

("But-") she began, but he silenced her.

("I don't think it would have made a difference if you told me how you felt about me if all of this never happened,") he went on. ("I probably would have wanted to remain friends for the rest of my life, leaving you with a forever downed heart. But I'm glad all this happened. I'm glad you turned against everyone and got me into this condition")

She now looked at him like he was crazy. Scratch that, he was crazy! She could not believe what he was saying. Apparently surviving the fall and going through that operation made him lose his brain cells.

She felt like walking right up to him and slap him hard across the cheek, which surprisingly she did.

("Stop taunting me,") she seethed through her teeth. ("In what world is driving you to say this?")

To her surprise though, Pikachu was still smiling and raised a paw to his cheek, lightly rubbing it. Did he really enjoy the slap she gave him? All he did was lower his paw and slowly return his attention to her. She glared at him, waiting for an answer.

("The reason I say these things is because, like I said earlier, if it wasn't for your betrayal against us, Hunter J would still be out there right now, capturing rare pokemon and auctioning them off,") he said.

("But it was that Jigglypuff who helped capture her,") she said.

("She may have helped in capturing J, but you were the one that gained her trust and gave her a moment of joy that she might have gotten what she wanted,") he said. ("And then you turned around and betrayed her after snapping out of your emotionless state.")

("That was because you revealed how you felt about me then,") she said. ("And it was because of that that I broke free. But I still want to know why you feel the way you do after everything I've done to you. You don't deserve a girl like me. In fact, I don't deserve my life.")

("Don't you say that!") Pikachu yelled. ("You have every right to deserve your life. And no matter what you think, I think you're worth something. If you weren't I wouldn't be out here right now talking to you about this. You're the one person in my life I couldn't stop thinking about as I was carried down the stream underwater, close to dying. Even now I can't stop thinking about you. You're in my mind, my heart, you're even in my eyes. You're everywhere I go. You're beautiful, smiling face is in my mind and my heart beats for you every waking moment I think about you. I love you, Buneary. And I'll always will. I'll never stop loving you, even if you don't feel the same way about me any more. All I want is to see you smile again. To let you know everything is going to be alright.")

Tears were pouring down Pikachu for the first time. Buneary never saw this side of Pikachu before. It completely sent her into shock and silence. She had no idea what to say. A long period of silence occurred after that as Pikachu sniffed, trying to stop the tears from streaming down his face, but couldn't stop them from coming.

("That's all I want,") he finally said. ("Just please let me know how you feel. I promise that however you feel about me, I'll still remain your friend, now and forever.")

She remained silent, too surprised to speak after hearing Pikachu admit all his feelings for her out. In all honesty, she wasn't sure how she felt. Confused, that much she did know. But still, there were some questions that were still bothering her.

("Just what is it about me that makes me attractive to you?") she finally asked. ("Besides my looks.")

It was here he smiled again, that same dreamy look returning to his eyes.

("Aside from your looks, I'd have to say that you lived dangerously and put a lot of risk on the line. That's what's holding my attention lately. For some odd reason, I wish to start living that way too. You inspired me to start living that way.")

("But you said yourself that you can no longer battle ever again,") she said.

("That is true,") he said. ("But I'm not going to just sit out at every battle and remain on the sidelines to watch. Once I feel a lot better, I'm going to start training to get back into battling. And I don't care if I get hurt in the process. It's a risk I'm willing to take.")

The guilt had long vanished from within, though a bit still remained. She felt like he was doing all this because of her. He must have known what she was thinking for he said, ("It's not you, Buneary. You're not the reason I'm doing this. It's because I find it a challenge that I must overcome. What makes me weak will only make me more stronger.")

A small smile formed upon her face, glad to know that everything didn't turn out the way she expected it to. Things were beginning to become clear to her. The confusion she felt was drifting towards a feeling that she held many times before, and her heart began to pound furiously, telling her to let him know how she felt.

("So,") Pikachu said. ("I guess that's all I want to say.")

("And now it's my turn to speak,") Buneary said. ("I still feel guilty for what I've done to you and that guilt is going to be there for a long time. It's going to be hard to gain everyone's trust back, but I'm willing to do anything to get their trust back.")

("And I know you'll do your best,") Pikachu said.

("I will,") Buneary said, her smile growing out a bit more.

("There's that smile I love seeing,") Pikachu said.

Buneary couldn't help but giggle as Pikachu kept the same expression on his face as he had before. Of course, he couldn't help but show a hint of sadness. Buneary's expression also showed sadness as her giggling simmered down.

("So I guess that's it then,") she said. ("We're to remain friends only until the end.")

("If you truly feel that way,") Pikachu said, managing a weak smile.

Her heart beat against her hard and furious, wanting to drive her to the brink of insanity. It wasn't how she felt. She felt something more than just that.

("No,") she answered him. ("It' s not how I really feel. Like you, I too have you in me. I've waited a long time for you to come around to feel the same way for me and I'll wait forever if I have to.")

("I don' think you'll have to wait very much longer,") he said. ("If we both feel the same way towards each other, then we should let our actions speak for us rather than words. I'm letting passion guide me. And it's guiding me towards you.")

The entire time Pikachu spoke, he closed the distance between him and Buneary until their faces were mere inches apart. She could actually feel his breath upon her, the passion between them as strong as a tree. Her heart was pounding wildly, knowing what was about to come.

("I want you, Buneary,") he whispered softly, placing his head against hers. ("And I want you to want me for the rest of your life.")

She stared deep into his eyes, the eyes of want, the eyes of desire, the eyes of love for her that showed that he would do anything for her, just to have her. Her heart was hammering against her now, screaming for her to answer him back with what she wanted. Tears began streaming down her face, but these were not tears of sadness. They were tears of happiness. A wide smile spread across her face and she could tell that he knew what she wanted. So without wanting to prolong the silence any longer, she spoke.

("And I want to be yours for the rest of my life as well.")

Hearing this brought a smile to Pikachu's face, relieved to know that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Together, the two lingered their faces against one another, enjoying the moment of the feeling that coursed through their body before slowly leaning in and locking lips.

She felt like her heart could explode at any moment. Her dream of always having Pikachu returning her feelings had finally come true. She had finally received her first kiss, and it was from the one pokemon she loved since she first laid eyes upon him.

The kiss deepened as Pikachu slowly slid his paws around her, Buneary doing the same. Only, Buneary froze for a spilt second as Pikachu dug his paws into her fluff and grabbed her ass. Surprised, her eyes flew open and stared into Pikachu's playful evil look. Keeping the kiss, a smirk spread across her face. This was the Pikachu she liked, the Pikachu she was enjoying. It felt good to her.

The kiss continued as she kept her paws upon Pikachu's backside as Pikachu squeezed even tighter upon her, pressing their bodies closer together and further deepening the kiss.

For once, she felt like she was in heaven, floating on air and not feeling any pain. She could barely even feel the pain she inflicted upon her arm a while ago. All she could concentrate on how good the kiss felt and was a bit surprised Pikachu was quite the kisser for his first time.

They eventually stopped due to lack of oxygen and broke, leaning their heads against each other once more and staring lovingly into one another's eyes. They breathed in each other's scent and exhaled, regaining the air they needed in their lungs.

Pikachu still had both his paws on Buneary's ass while Buneary had one paw on the back of Pikachu's neck while the other was on his ass as well. The air around them was quite warm. Of course it could have been their body temperature. She couldn't tell. The moon seemed to be at its most highest point of the night, shining brightly as its reflection made the water shimmer, making the area romantic.

Before locking lips once more, Pikachu breathed out four words to her that she would hear for the rest of her life.

("I love you, Buneary.")

("I love you too, Pikachu,") she said back to him as their lips locked once again and the passion they felt drove them to deepen their kiss like before as the night wore on.


	25. Chapter 25

The light of the full moon had long diminished and light of the early morning of the uprising sun was beginning to light the world slowly. A new day was just beginning as the sound of rumbling immediately woke someone up with a start. Eyes looked around for the source of the low rumbling, brain processing that it may have been an earthquake. His heart rate was quickening, worried that the next rumble might destroy everything he was surrounded in, including the building he had slept in.

The rumble came again, yet nothing trembled or shook. In fact, now he began feeling something different within him. The rumbling grew a bit louder and was right on top of him. Or more like within him. He felt his stomach gurgling, making a low, growling rumbling sound. A thought popped into his head and registered as hunger.

He chuckled to himself, feeling silly for worrying over nothing. He slowly got up, stretching, yawning, and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before turning to the open door and walked out, slowly making his way downstairs to find something to eat.

Though it was morning, the hallway was still fairly dark, yet easy to see as the morning light slowly began to light the room as the minutes ticked by. His stomach gurgled louder as he walked on down the stairs to the main floor. His desire for an appetite grew stronger every second.

He quickened his pace up a bit once on the main floor and began heading for the doors to lead to the back, cutting right behind the desk Nurse Joy normally stands behind to take pokemon to check up on them.

As he got began walking behind the desk, an odd, peculiar smell reached his nose. It was an odd smell, a smell that wasn't supposed to be there, yet was there anyway. Glancing down, he noticed something that wasn't supposed to be there.

Lying on the ground, he saw a knife. He raised an eyebrow, wondering why there was a knife on the ground. He bent lower to examine, the smell quickly growing stronger as he examined the blade more closely.

He noticed right away that half of the blade was darkened while the other half was easily seeable. The smell was overwhelming him with its intoxicating essence of something he knew, but couldn't place a paw on it.

Turning his attention away from the knife, he noticed a few dark splotches upon the floor, each with the same smell that was upon the knife. Something began to click in his head suddenly as the morning light lit the room a bit further. He looked back at the splotches which were turning a dark red as the light grew.

His eyes suddenly widened as he finally realized what he was examining. Looking quickly towards the blade, curiosity was replaced with concern and worry that all might not have gone according to plan.

Wanting to see if Pikachu was in his bed or not, he went and took one step forward when the lights suddenly flashed on, blinding him for a brief minute. Shaking his head to rid the temporary blindness, he opened his eyes in time to see Nurse Joy come walking out, a hand over her mouth yawning.

He had no time to move as she stopped yawning and opened her eyes, looking down upon him and spotting the mess he stood in. All he could do was stand there as Nurse Joy took in a deep breath and let out a high shriek.

--

The feel of the warm air gently blowing across his body brought him out of his sleep. The feel of something soft laid beneath him and for a moment, he thought he was back in the hospital bed, resting. His heart skipped a beat at first for waking in an unknown location he was not familiar with.

But, looking up at the sky above him and glancing at all the trees that towered above him, memories of last night began to play in his head, though it seemed like a dream. He finally admitted that he was in love with Buneary as she admitted it as well. Then everything seemed to slow down as they locked lips and eventually drifted away to sleep.

To him, it seemed like heaven. A smile crept up on his face as he replayed the memory. He slowly moved his head to the right, gazing upon the form of his lover as she slept. She seemed so relaxed and quite beautiful when she slept.

Her head laid upon his chest, which also had the huge scar running diagonally over it, yet he felt no pain. One paw was just below her head, resting on Pikachu's stomach while the other was keeping him close to her.

He smiled dreamily as he watched her sleep, breathing in and out. His right paw was lovingly keeping her close by his side while his left paw was free to do whatever it wished. He lifted that free paw suddenly and gently grasped the paw resting on his stomach.

He continued to smile and watch as she slept, wishing not to disturb her. She was just too beautiful to wake. And so the sun slowly rose as the two lied in the position they were in. If only Tracy was nearby, it would be a drawing for all who saw it to remember.

Finally, as the sun just made it out from the horizon, she began to stir and moaned Pikachu's name softly. Pikachu smiled widely as he moved his free paw from her paw to her face, stroking it gently and placing a kiss upon her forehead. That was enough to wake her.

Her eyes fluttered open as she rose it, immediately looking straight into his eyes, smiling happily.

("Good morning, love,") Pikachu said.

("Good morning to you too,") Buneary said as she leaned forward and kissed Pikachu on the lips for a few minutes before breaking.

("Slept well?") Pikachu asked.

("Like an angel,") Buneary replied.

("You look like one too,") Pikachu commented, causing a huge blush to spread across Buneary's face as she awed and looked away flirtatiously.

Pikachu couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. Of course, while chuckling, he felt a bit of pain flare right across his stomach, causing him to groan in pain.

("Are you O.K.?") Buneary asked, concerned for her mate.

("Fine,") Pikachu grunted. ("Just hurts a bit.")

Buneary knew what he meant and quickly went to get off him, but Pikachu used his free arm to keep her where she was.

("Stay,") he said. ("It's not you. I just chuckled a little too hard.")

("Oh,") she said, smiling again. ("But then again, we really can't stay like this all day. Our trainers will probably get worried if they find you gone from the Center.")

("You're right,") Pikachu said. ("Can't have that happening now can we?")

("I think not,") Buneary said before gasping.

("What's wrong?") Pikachu asked.

("Last night when I was slicing my arm open, I left the knife on the ground to follow you. If anyone sees that, they'll all panic.")

("Well then we better make haste to get back,") Pikachu said, getting Buneary to help him up.

His body felt stiff as a board as he walked.

("Can you walk?") Buneary asked.

("Not very well,") Pikachu answered her. ("I feel stiff.")

("I'll help you then,") Buneary said as she grabbed him by the waste and slowly helped him walk towards the hill.

Just as they went to walk up, Buneary immediately rose both her ears all the way up, listening for something she thought she just heard.

("What's wrong, Buneary?") Pikachu asked. ("What do you hear?")

The answer came suddenly as a claw shot forth from the water and aimed straight for Pikachu. However, Buneary saw the claw as it shot out and immediately let go yelling, ("Pikachu. Watch out!")

She quickly let go of Pikachu and jumped in front of him, the claw capturing her instead.

("Buneary!") Pikachu cried out as he went to reach for her, but wasn't fast enough as the claw retracted back towards the water.

("Pikachu!") Buneary cried out as the water began rise up.

Pikachu stood motionless where he was, unable to do anything as the water grew to a certain size and began to pour off back into the lake. As it did, something metal was seen and soon, a large metal Tentacruel with a big red R on its forehead was revealed.

The top part of the Tentacruel's head opened up to reveal three beings inside. Pikachu gasped in shock at the three people he never thought he would see ever again.

"Hello, Pikachu," one of the beings said. "We meet again."


	26. Chapter 26

A loud, piercing shriek filled the entire building, instantly rousing him from his sleep and causing him to sit right up in his bed, only to bash it against something and fall right back onto the pillow it laid upon.

"Ow!" he moaned rubbing his head as a loud thump was followed.

"What's going on?" Dawn asked. "Who screamed?"

"Somebody screamed?" he asked, rubbing his hurting head. "Who?"

"It sounded like a woman," Brock said. "Which means something must have happened to Nurse Joy."

He watched as his friend rushed out of the room like lightning as he stumbled out of bed and tripped due to his legs being wrapped up in the blanket. Unfortunately, he landed right upon a poor, confused Pachirisu who immediately released a powerful Thunder Shock upon being squashed.

Dawn was already out of the room by this time, followed by the rest of the pokemon

Downstairs, Brock was already in the Center room, immediately spotting Nurse Joy lying upon the floor. Before her stood Turtwig, standing right in front of a half bloddy knife with blood on the floor.

"Nurse Joy!" Brock cried out, running over to her.

He knelt down and gently tried shaking her all the meanwhile trying to wake her. Dawn was the next one down and noticed Brock kneeling by the desk.

"Brock what's going on?" she asked. "Who screamed?"

"Something happened to Nurse Joy," Brock replied, showing Dawn an unconscious Nurse Joy upon the floor. "Help me get her up."

Dawn walked over and grabbed an arm as Brock grabbed the other and the both of them hoisted her up, walking over to a chair and placing her down in it. Nurse Joy began to stir a bit as the rest of the pokemon came walking over, Ash and Pachirisu being the last ones being that Ash came tripping down the stairs.

"What's going on?" she asked as she came to.

"I came down and found you lying on the floor unconscious," Brock told her. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Nurse Joy replied, still coming around. "I think I remember a dream or something and I screamed for some reason."

"Can you remember what the dream was about?" Dawn asked.

"Uh, I think I remember walking into the room here and I turned and saw something horrible behind the desk," Nurse Joy said.

"What kind of horrible thing?" Dawn asked.

("Guys!") Pachirisu suddenly yelled, pointing behind the desk.

Everyone turned to Pachirisu, wondering to what she was pointing at. Ash remained lying on the ground, groaning quietly in pain as Brock, Dawn, and the rest of the pokemon went and looked behind the desk.

Upon looking at what Pachirisu was looking at, they all let their mouths drop open in shock and horror. There, right in the middle, stood Turtwig standing over a half-stained blade with dried, red splotches on the ground.

"I don't think that was a dream you had, Nurse Joy," Dawn said.

"You know, now that you mention it, I don't think it was a dream either," Nurse Joy said. "Now my memory's starting to remember. I woke up and came walking in to find Turtwig standing right there with that bloody mess. I'm not normally used to waking up to seeing those kind of things."

Ash was now getting up, the pain now subsiding as he stumbled about all the way to a chair and slumped down in it.

"What side of the bed did you wake up on?" Dawn asked him.

"Apparently the really wrong side," Ash grumbled. "What's going on?"

"Well Turtwig's standing over a half-stained bloodied knife with dried blood splotches on the ground," Dawn replied.

Ash looked up at Dawn and stared at her for several minutes, his mind slowly processing what she had said until it fully processed. Then his eyes shot open as he leapt right up.

"What happened to Turtwig?" he asked worriedly. "Is he all right?"

"He's fine, Ash," Brock said. "From the looks of the dry blood, I would have to say that the blood ended up there over night while we were still asleep. I think Turtwig accidentally might have stumbled across the dry blood and froze up when Nurse Joy walked in."

"Well we should probably snap him out of it," Dawn said. "He's probably so worried that he'll get in trouble that he dare not move from that spot."

("I got him,") Buizel said, walking over to Turtwig.

"So if Turtwig wasn't involved with the knife incident, then who bled?" asked Ash.

"A better question to ask is why the knife was left there in the first place," Brock said, crossing his arms.

"I would believe that would be my fault," Nurse Joy said with a sheepish smile. "I was just going to make a sandwich and was pulling out a knife when the first of you came running in from the rain. I guess I placed the knife down to grab some towels and then the rest of you all came running in. There was so much excitement, I completely forgot about the knife and let it drop to the ground."

"That explains why the knife was there," Brock said. "Now all we need to find out whose blood that is."

"Wait a minute," Dawn said suddenly, realization showing upon her face. "I noticed that Buneary never came into the room last night. In fact, I don't even think she came in at all."

Everyone realized what Dawn was talking about.

"You don't think Buneary did herself in for what she'd done, do you?" Ask asked.

Dawn quickly brought both hands up over her mouth in shock, horror filling her eyes as the thought of Buneary lying in the middle of a field filled her mind. Her body began to tremble just thinking about it as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"No," she whispered quietly. "She couldn't have."

"Hold on," Brock said. "I also noticed that Team Rocket wasn't in their beds this morning when I rushed out of the room. You don't think they did in both her and Pikahcu, do you?"

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out, practically running for the back doors to check if his friend had been harmed in any way.

Just as he swung open the doors, the front Center doors slid open. Ash stopped and turned at the sound as did everyone else, staring as the three missing people came walking in. Silence filled the area as the three became quite uncomfortable with all the stares they were receiving.

"What?" James asked.

--

"Uh, Professor Namba, you do know you're talking to a Buneary, right?" asked the green haired man who was sitting on the right side.

"Hmm? The almost bald man, Namba asked. "What's that?"

"I said you're talking to a Buneary," the green haired man repeated.

"I am?" Namba asked, looking right back at Buneary for several seconds. "Hey! How did we capture a Buneary? Pikachu was targeted."

"Perhaps the Buneary got in the way of the claw and took capture for him," the blond hair woman spoke, who was sitting on the other side

"So I see," Namba said, looking at Buneary again. "But now the question is why are they the only two out here and where are they're trainers?"

"You know," the woman said. "I don't think they're anywhere around here. Otherwise, they would have been here by now."

"She's right," the man said with a nod.

"So then what would these two be doing out here alone?" Namba asked.

"I think I know," the woman said, knowing just exactly what the reason was. "Being that we caught her instead of him, I would have to say that they're in love."

"In love?" the man asked rhetorically. "How sweet. Too bad it's not going to last."

"Right you are, Buff," Namba said.

"It's Butch," the man, Butch, corrected.

"Whatever," Namba said. "So, Pikachu. You're in love with this Buneary are you?"

Below, listening to the conversation going on Pikachu growled as Namba spoke down to him, but nodded in response anyway.

"How romantic," Namba said. "But you know what would be even more romantic? How about a bit of raging love?"

("I don't know what you mean by that, Namba, but you had better let Buneary go,") Pikachu yelled.

"I suppose you're asking just what I mean by raging love, I bet," Namba said. "Well then why don't I tell you. I believe you recall an old invention of my that, oh, say, brings out a pokemon's rage?"

("_He wouldn't,_") Pikachu thought, horrified.

"I believe you do," Namba said. "Of course, being that it's been so long since you've last seen me, I doubt you remember."

("I remember all right,") Pikachu said.

"What do you think he said?" the woman asked.

"I don't know," Butch answered her. "He probably does. But that's just my guess."

"Well if you do remember, then I hope you have the heart to fight her," Namba said. "Cassidy, bring out the Helmet of Rage!"

"I thought it was called the rage helmet," Cassidy said.

"So I gave it a different name, so what?" Namba asked. "Just put it on her before Pikachu Thunder Bolts us."

"On it," the woman, Cassidy, said as she reeled the claw in.

("Pikachu, help me!") Buneary cried.

Pikachu grimaced as he took a step forward, his stiff muscles screaming in pain as the aching began flaring up.

("Buneary!") Pikachu cried as he desperately tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond.

All he could do was fall forward onto his knees as his body crashed to the ground.

("Buneary!") he cried out again, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Well would you look at that," Casidy said. "Pikachu must be so powerless to even try and stop us."

Namba laughed at her comment and looked down upon Pikachu, grinning evilly.

"So the powerful Pikachu can't even save his precious Buneary, eh? Too weak and helpless to even attack us without managing to not harm her. Cassidy, I want to see him hurt. Place the helmet on."

"Yes sir," Cassidy said as she slowly placed the helmet onto Buneary's head.

("No!") Pikachu whimpered.

"Now Pikachu, let's see if you can hurt the one you love the most," Namba said as he pressed a button upon a remote control.

The blue stone turned from blue to orange as Buneary's eyes went from brown to orange as well, matching the stone color.

"Oh I almost forgot," Namba said. "I upgraded the helmet to allow me to control any pokemon who wears the helmet. Buneary, attack him!"

The claw holding Buneary released he, using the claw, Buneary jumped off of it and landed on the ground, her eyes directed right at Pikachu. Pikachu could only stare in fear into the orange eyes of her now controlled lover as she bounced high into the air and came feet first down upon Pikachu.

--

"So we're just supposed to believe that the three of you got up early this morning and went out on a walk?" Brock asked. "All at the same time."

"Would it have mattered if we told you something different?" James asked. "Almost everything we tell you you end up never believing, even when we tell the truth."

"But you three getting up at the same exact time to go for a walk?" Brock questioned. "I find that hard to believe."

"So do I," Officer Jenny said, who came walking in only moments after Team Rocket did. "And shouldn't I be the one asking all these questions, not you?"

"You're so right," Brock said, grabbing Jenny's hands. "And then when you finish with them, you can ask me a million questions if you want."

"Move aside, lover boy," Jenny said, freeing her hands from Brock's grip and shoving him out of her way. "I take my job as an officer very seriously. I never have time to do anything else but my job."

Brock slouched forward, heartbroken. Next to him, Croagunk stood there, one paw in the air and losing its purple glow.

"So I'm to believe you three got up at the exact same time to go out for a walk?" Jenny questioned. "What were your true motives for getting up at that time of morning?"

"Hey," Meowth said. "We're being quite honest for once. We'd never go so far as to kill a pokemon. Ask him. We've been all over the world just to get his Pikachu. We would never do such a thing as to actually kill him."

"Yeah," Jessie agreed. "Come on, twe- I mean kid. It's the truth after all."

"She is right," Brock agreed, his arms crossed.

Ash nodded in agreement.

"Then explain the half-stained bloody knife found at the scene of the crime," Jenny said.

"We know nothing about it," Jessie said. "We're innocent. Do we look like the kind of people who would go so far as to kill a pokemon like Pikachu? If we wanted to do so, we would have offed Pikachu a long time ago."

"Again, she has a point," Ash said this time.

"Oh really?" Jenny asked, turning on Ash. "And how do I know that you're not with Team Rocket along with your friends?"

"Maybe this should help clear things up," Ash said, getting out his pokedex and opening it.

Then, a female computerized voice spoke as a picture of himself showed up on the screen.

__

"My name is Dex, property of Ash Ketchum and given to him by Professor Samuel Oak of Pallet Town."

"Well then you're off the hook," Jenny said with a small smile. "And what about the two of you?"

It was Dawn's turn to hold up her pokedex, a picture of her showing up on the screen.

__

"My name is Dexla, property of Dawn of Twinleaf Town and given to her by Professor Rotwood."

"And I'm the Pewter City Gym Leader," Brock told her, holding up a badge that was in the shape of a gray rock.

"Well that takes care of that," Jenny said. "But we still have a mystery on our hands to solve. And Team Rocket here is the main suspects for the disappearance of Pikachu and Buneary and the mysterious half-stained bloody knife found on the floor."

"Hey wait a minute," Ash said. "Turtwig was standing over it. He might know something we don't. Turtwig, come over here."

Turtwig walked over with Buizel right behind him.

"Turtwig," Ash said. "Did you see anything happening last night that has to do with the knife?"

("No,") Turtwig replied, shaking his head slowly.

"You haven't?" Ash asked.

("No,") Turtwig said again. ("But I may have a clue as to where Buneary and Pikachu may be.")

"Really?" Meowth asked.

"What did he say?" Dawn asked.

"Turtwig says he might know where Pikachu and Buneary are," Meowth told them all.

"Where are they Turtwig?" Dawn asked with some relief, though she was still worried. "Are they all right?"

Turtwig spoke and Meowth translated for him.

"He says he's not sure if they're all right," he said. "All he knows after talking to Pikachu yesterday is that he was planning on talking to Buneary down by the lake outside of the town."

"Do you think that's where they still may be?" Dawn asked.

"Let's hope so," Nurse Joy said, who remained quiet throughout the entire conversation. "Buneary is Pikachu's only defense. It's dangerous for them to even be out there. They could come across a pack of wild pokemon and Buneary might not be able to hold them all off."

"Well then we better hurry," Ash said. "I can't lose Pikachu when he just recovered."

Ash immediately ran out the door, his pokemon following right behind him. The others followed, including Jenny, Joy, and Team Rocket as they rushed for the lake to where they would make a horrible discovery.

_"Pikachu,"_ Ash thought._ "Hang in there. I'm coming for you."_


	27. Chapter 27

All the air left his lungs as the weight of the pokemon he loved came crashing down upon him. The pain was too unbearable to handle now and all he could feel was nothing but pain. He gasped for breath, his chest throbbing as he breathed in. His heart hammered him, wanting to explode and end him there.

He slowly exhaled, whimpering as the pain increased. He didn't think he would have the strength to draw breath again, especially when he was in a critical condition being injured further by his love. His ears twitched, hearing laughter.

"This is priceless!" Nanba laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day Pikachu would fall! This is a day to remember. Buneary, do some more damage!"

He watched as her eyes flashed orange before charging a blue beam in her mouth and firing out at him. All he could do was helplessly lie there as the beam struck his injured arm. He cried out in pain as the ice burned the stitched-up cut, but no sound came from his throat. Pain kept him from yelling.

He was kicked onto his back suddenly, the pain inflicted upon his body flaring right up. He couldn't bend himself or curl to try and even stop the pain. All he could do was twitch as he struggled to desperately try and soothe the pain, but it wasn't going to stop there.

He felt blows being inflicted upon body, the pain becoming excruciating as the blows continued. Then, burning began on his body. It was much more painful than his arm.

"Yes, yes!" Nanba said happily as he, Cassidy, and Butch watched the battle with interest.

Tears were pouring down his face as he knew that no one could save him. The pain was doing him in. Even now he could begin to see the darkness taking him in. His vision began fading as everything began growing darker and darker. The pain was beginning to suddenly fade as he felt the blood within him begin to be pumped slower and slower.

He slowly turned his head up to the only pokemon he ever loved, watching as a fist was raised into the air. And then, just as it was coming down, he lost all vision, feeling, and smell as his breathing slowed until there was barely any breath coming out of him at all.

("_I love you, Buneary,_") were the last thoughts his mind thought about before it began to shut itself down.

--

She couldn't stand doing this again, seeing him in agonizing pain like this. She tried everything she could to resist the power that had control over her, but the power was just too strong for her.

Her mind was edging her forward, to do what the power commanded her to do. And everything she did do hurt her just as much as it hurt her love. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. The power would not allow her to do such a thing. She continued her onslaught against him, freezing his arm as she was told to continue. Though nothing came to mind, her heart, however, felt like it was ripping, seeing him in pain that she was causing to him.

She felt her feet move towards him and kick him, turning him over onto his back. Seeing him like this just tore her heart in two. It hurt her so much that she was the one to cause this. She felt herself forming another Ice Beam and fired it upon his body, encasing it in ice just like his arm.

She watched as he opened his mouth and cried out, though no sound came from him. Yet another command penetrated her mind, giving her the image of pounding him to a bloody pulp with her ears, which she began almost instantly, pounding him nonstop.

Her heart broke even further as she saw the tears come streaming out from his eyes. She stopped her pounding and raised a paw into the air. She stared into the face of her lover and noticed that something was not right.

His eyes were half-way open, yet he seemed to be losing the life in them. His breathing was starting to slow. Something in her was starting to crack just seeing him like this.

"Do it, Buneary!" Nanba yelled. "Deliver the finishing blow!"

The command penetrated her mind and she did as told. She brought her fist down right on his head, but stopped just an inch from it, keeping it held in place.

"What are you waiting for?" Nanba yelled. "Do it!"

But she remained still, not able to bring herself to do what she was commanded to do. Her fist began trembling, struggling to break free from the control she was under.

Suddenly, the helmet she was wearing went up another level, heading to its highest point it could go. The anger within her grew stronger, but still she remained still.

"Buneary!" Nanba yelled angrily. "DO IT!"

The anger within her began to take control, making her seethe in anger as her fist trembled violently right above Pikachu's face. Finally, she raised her paw up into the air again, but instead of bringing down on Pikachu like she was commanded to, she raised her other paw and brought both of them up to the helmet she wore.

"Wait!" Nanba said surprised. "What is she doing?"

"No way!" Butch said, equally surprised. "She's taking the helmet off!"

"Buneary, I command you to stop!" Nanba yelled as Buneary slowly pushed the helmet off.

"No!" Nanba cried as Buneary yanked the helmet off her.

The red eyes that had her under control returned to their normal brown color before closing. Weary from the control she was under, Buneary fell to the ground, a bit weak. But she managed to drag herself over to Pikachu's side and sit right up, lifting up his head and placing it on her lap.

Tears flowed from her eyes as she gently brushed a paw across the side of his face.

("Pi... ka... chu!) she hiccupped.

From within the Tentacruel sub, Nanba was seething angrily himself.

"How?" he asked. "How is it that she was able to break free from my control?"

"I have no idea," Cassidy replied. "Shall we take over from here?"

"Yes," Nanba said. "Show those two no mercy. Pikachu will be ours. The Buneary can be done away with."

"Houndoom, you're up!" Cassidy yelled, throwing out a pokeball of her own.

The ball released a white light which formed into a four legged canine creature with black skin, horns, and a pointed tail at the end.

O.K. Hitmontop, your turn!" Butch yelled as he threw his ball out next.

From within the ball came a three legged creature with a horn on its head and fists for fighting.

"Houndoom, Flame Thrower!" Cassidy yelled.

"Triple Kick, Hitmontop!" Butch ordered.

Buneary, hearing this, looked up as the Houndoom released a stream of fire directed at her while the Hitmontop began spinning, it's three legs a fast rotating top that would really hurt upon contact.

She couldn't move however, being that she was exhausted from the helmet that controlled her and because she had Pikachu held lovingly on her lap.

As the attacks were about to make their mark, a green shield was suddenly placed over her and Pikachu. Reason being was because the Flame Thrower harmlessly bounced off it in many directions while the Hitmontop's attack was stopped, hitting the shield and falling flat on its face.

"What the-!?" Nanba said surprised. "How did that happen?"

"You have a lot of nerve picking on weak, defenseless pokemon," someone said from behind her. "Especially ones that belong to some friends of mine."

Buneary turned her head to see who was speaking. Behind her, she saw a huge yellow pokemon with black stripes and two tails. This she knew was an Electavire. And there was only one person she knew who this Electavire belonged to.

The answer came as a boy with spiky brown hair and a blue shirt on stepped out from behind the Electavire.

"And just who are you?" Nanba asked angrily.

"I'm the guy who's going to kick your butts," the boy replied with a smirk


	28. Chapter 28

**Ugh! I would have had this chapter up a lot sooner, but I've been busy working. Anyway, I'll hopefully have this all wrapped up by the next chapter. And from the looks of things, I just might. So R&R!**

He listened to the shrill whistle which Officer Jenny blew into as he, his friends, and others ran through the town, the path being cleared by Jenny herself, being that she was in the lead. Within minutes, thanks to people getting out of the way, the gang all exited the town and paused.

"O.K.," Brock said. "So which way to the lake?"

"This way," Jenny said, veering off in a right angle direction.

The others took off after her, entering the forest and began running downhill as the ground beneath them sloped downwards.

"You think Pikachu and Buneary are all right?" Dawn asked.

"I always have hope that they always are," Brock answered her. "Let's just hope they are."

"The lake's coming into view," James said, turning everyone's attention forward.

True to what James said, the lake was coming into view fast, but everyone was surprised at what laid within it.

"What is that ting?" Meowth asked as the neared the bottom.

"It looks like a giant Tentacruel," Dawn spoke out.

"Oh no!" Meowth cried. "Not again!"

"Hold on a minute," Brock said. "It looks like its top is open. And there are people inside."

"Hey guys," Dawn said. "Isn't that Gary down there with Electivire?"

Everyone looked from the giant Tentacruel down to a boy with spiky brown hair standing next to a huge yellow pokemon with black stripes on its back and two long antennas extending downward.

"Gary!?" Ash yelled out in surprise.

The spiky brown hair boy known as Gary turned around to stare in surprise himself as Ash and the others got to he bottom of the slope and ran up to him.

"Ash!?" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," Ash said. "And what's the deal with those three?"

"Long story short, I heard some noise while I was walking on my way here and barely arrived to see Pikachu and Buneary getting attacked. So I decided to intervene."

"Pikachu and Buneary!?" Ash asked, confused before looking down to see Buneary holding Pikachu who looked like he wasn't moving.

Ash gasped in shock at the scene before him, terror spreading throughout his body.

"Pikachu!" he cried, kneeling forward and scooping him out of Buneary's arms, cradling him.

Buneary remained in the position she was in, still staring in the same spot she held Pikachu.

"Ash, what's wrong?" Brock asked.

"It's Pikachu," Ash sniffled. "He's not moving."

Dawn gasped, shocked herself.

"Hold on," Brock said. "Let me see him."

Ash willingly allowed Brock to take Pikachu from his arms as he placed an ear over Pikachu's mouth. Though hard to feel, he definitely felt a bit of warm air coming from Pikachu himself.

Moving his ear down, Brock listened closely for a heartbeat. At first, nothing was heard. Then, a slow thump made contact, confirming Brock's concern.

"He's still alive," he said. "Just barely."

"How did you know?" Dawn asked.

"As a breeder, we use our eyes for examination," Brock said. "Pikachu's struggling for breath. So he needs to get back to the Pokemon Center right away."

"No one's going any where just yet," Cassidy interrupted before anyone made a move. "That Pikachu is still coming with us."

"Back off, Cassidy!" Jessie yelled up at her angrily. "We've been after Pikachu a lot longer than you."

"And you still haven't managed to capture him yet?" Cassidy asked in a mocking tone. "Oh Jessie, Jessie. What a shame."

Jessie's eye twitched as she growled angrily. Gary on the other hand was looking quite confused, looking from the usual Team Rocket to the new ones he stood before.

"Hold on," he said. "If these three are the main ones who usually go about to capture Pikachu, then who are you three?"

"Looks like it's introduction time," Butch said.

"Indeed it is," Cassidy agreed. "You all better prepare for trouble."

"And you better believe we'll make that double," Butch added.

"To infect the world with devastation."

"To blight all peoples in every nation."

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love."

"To extend our wrath to the stars above."

"Cassidy."

"Butch."

"Team Rocket circling Earth all day and night."

"So surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight."

"Cassidy and Butch!?" Gary blinked in confusion as he turned to Ash. "Who are they?"

"They're another part of Team Rocket that we've ran into several times," Ash explained. "Of course, the bald guy up there we've only seen once back in the Silver Islands."

"Bald!?" Nanba said outraged. "I am not bald! I still have hair!"

"You've met this guy before?" Dawn questioned.

"It's kind of a long story," Brock said. "Right now, we need to get Pikachu back to the Center."

"Oh no you don't," Cassidy said. "Stop them, Houndoom."

Houndoom went and unleashed a stream of fire at Ash and the gang. However, Jessie reacted quickly to the attack.

"Go Wobbufet!" she said. "Mirror Coat!"

Out came Wobbufet in a burst of light as he activated his Mirror Coat upon being released. The Flame Thrower made contact with Wobbufet, but bounced off him, curving right back to Houndoom who stood there and let the attack hit him.

"All right!" Jessie said triumphantly. "A dead hit."

"I wouldn't think so," Cassidy said with a smirk, causing Jessie to frown.

All watched as the fire attack that hit Houndoom was absorbed into his body.

"Wh-What just happened?" Jessie asked.

"Did you forget that fire types can absorb their own attack and increase their power?" Cassidy said.

"Guess I did forget," Jessie said, looking caught off guard.

"Come on," Jenny whispered to Ash, Brock, Dawn, and Gary. "Let's go while they're distracted."

However, Nanba noticed their escape and yelled out, "Stop them!"

"Hitmontop!" Butch yelled.

Hitmontop took chase after them, but was stopped as James threw a pokeball of his own.

"Oh no you don't," he said. "Cacnea, Needle Arm!"

Out came Cacnea in a burst of light himself, readying his attack as his arm glowed. He came down upon Hitmontop's head, bruising it and sending Hitmontop back.

Cassidy growled as Jessie, James, and Meowth blocked their way from chasing down Pikachu.

"If anyone's going to get Pikachu, it's going to be us," Jessie said.

"That's right," Meowth said in agreement.

"And just how long have you been at it trying to retrieve him?" Nanba asked. "You three are buffoons. I don't know why the Boss even keeps you around."

"The only buffoons I see are you three," Jessie retorted. "Why don't you go elsewhere and bug another kid with a Pikachu?"

"Yeah," James said.

"Are you kidding?" Butch asked. "That Pikachu is far more powerful than any other Pikachu in this world. So you should just quit while you're ahead and leave this to the real professionals."

"That's it!" Jessie yelled. "I don't have to take this from you. Dustox, Poison Sting!"

Dustox came out from his ball and instantly fired poisonous darts out at Hitmontop and Houndoom, but were instantly melted by Houndoom's Flame Thrower.

"You guys were always weak," Cassidy said with a laugh. "And you always will be."

Jessie was boiling mad now.

"We'll see who the weak ones are," she yelled. "Dustox, Poison Sting! Seviper, Poison Tail!"

"Carnivine, Bullet Seed!" James yelled, releasing Carnivine. "Cacnea, Pin Missile!"

"Houndoom, Flame Thrower!" Casidy commanded.

"Triple Kick!" Butch said to Hitmontop.

All attacks were released and coming into contact with one another when Wobbufet got into the crossfire once again and activated his Mirror Coat. Everything after that happened way to fast for both Team Rockets to even know what happened.

Apparently, Seviper and Hitmontop knocked each other back to their original owners, though the recoil sent Hitmontop spinning backwards, ending up hitting Houndoom and sending both pokemon into the Tentacruel robot. Seviper knocked Jessie, James, and Meowth over.

As for the attacks, the Flame Thrower curved right off of Wobbufet and went straight for the open head of the robot Tentacruel while the attacks from the other side landed in the ground, causing a big explosion.

The Flame Thrower that was sent back fried the circuitry in the robot, which began exploding before the entire robot blew up altogether.

Up went Cassidy, Butch, and Nanba into the air, soaring into the distance.

"Ooh I so hate Jessie!" Cassidy exclaimed with disgust. "One day, I'll humiliate her and her friends. And hopefully then, I can get them all expelled from Team Rocket."

"You really have an anger issue with her, don't you?" Nanba questioned, receiving a fiery glare from her.

"I'm sure it will happen one day," Butch said. "But for now..."

"It looks like we're blasting off again!" all three yelled as they soared off into the sky, a star twinkling a moment later where they disappeared off into.

--

"How dare that tramp call me weak!" Jessie said angrily. "Next time I run into her, I'll show her who the weak one is."

"Guess we're going to need to start going to a pokemon training area or something then," James sighed.

"Guess we're going to need to sell those bottle caps for money then," Meowth said. "Cause nothing don't come cheap no more."

"Wait," Jessie said. "You have to pay to get into something like that?"

"Well, it doesn't matter right now cause..."

"We're blasting off again!" all three yelled.

("And so am I,") Wobbufet said before a star twinkled right where they soared off into.

--

Once again everyone was in turmoil as they either sat in a chair or paced back and forth in front of the back doors that Pikachu was beyond once again. And though Gary himself was equally as worried for the rest, he kept his confidence in check and remained upbeat and cool as he possibly could.

Garly glanced down over at Ash who was taking this the hardest most. He knew how much he loved Pikachu. Pikachu wasn't just only his very best friend, but his world as well. Without Pikachu, Ash wouldn't have any strength to continue on battling.

"Why?" Ash asked himself suddenly. "Why is this happening to me? Why does Pikachu keep getting hurt?"

"I'm sure whatever the reason, it's complicated," Gary answered him, getting Ash to look up at him.

"But just what could be so complicated with him?" Ash asked.

Gary swiftly glanced over to the answer who was slumped sadly against the wall away from everyone before returning his attention to Ash.

"I'm sure you'll understand one day," was all Gary said.

"But what if I don't understand?" Ash questioned further. "What if Pikachu doesn't make it in there? What if I lose all my pokemon because of Pikachu? What if-"

"Oh stop it with the ifs," Gary said. "If you don't have faith in Pikachu recovering, then you're sure to lose him. Look, Ash, I may not show it, but I care for Pikachu too. Maybe not the way you feel about him, but I care for him enough to actually show my concerns for him and for you."

At this point, Ash was looking Gary straight in the eye.

"I've known you since you were born," Gary went on. "Long enough to know that you've become a most powerful trainer. And a powerful trainer is only resulted in training very powerful pokemon. You always find the strength to go on, even after a loss. Pikachu feels the same way because you do too. It's the bond of friendship that keeps people going like you and Pikachu."

Suddenly, without warning, Ash busted out laughing, causing Gary to look confused and surprised at this sudden outburst.

"I'm sorry," Ash said after calming himself down. "It's just that you sounded just like your grandfather when you said all that stuff. And you know what, you're right. I am powerful because I've trained my pokemon to become the way they are today. And I do believe that he can make it. I've just been sitting around worrying myself to death. I guess I did turn out to be like my mom."

Gary chuckled, getting Ash to chuckle again. Suddenly, the dinging of the light going off above the doors stopped their chuckling as they both turned their attention to the doors as they opened up, Nurse Joy walking out from behind them.

Brock and Dawn came running over with the rest of the pokemon but Buneary as they all held their breath for her answer. Worry began to clamp Ash's heart once again, hoping that his friend had survived.

"Nurse Joy," he said. "How is he?"

Nurse Joy sighed heavily before answering him.

"All I can say is that I don't know how it happened, but your Pikachu somehow managed to make an unexplainable recovery," Nurse Joy replied.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this news.

"Thank goodness," Brock said. "That's great news, isn't Ash?"

"It sure is," Ash said.

"See?" Gary said. "What did I tell you? If you have faith in your pokemon, they'll come through for you."

"You were right," Ash said. "Thanks, Gary."

"What I do for a rival," Gary smirked.

Ash only smiled before turning to Nurse Joy and asking, "So, can we see him?"

"Not at the moment you can't," Nurse Joy said. "He needs his rest. He's been through a lot. I will allow you in later on."

"And how about we get to know each other while we're waiting?" Brock asked her right before being Poison Jabbed once again. And poor Brock was dragged away once again by Croagunk.

"So Ash," Gary said. "How about a little battle and some lunch while we wait? I've been wanting to battle some of your new pokemon."

"You're on," Ash said.

"Now this I got to see," Dawn said.

"Then let's go," Ash said as he rushed out the door.

"That's Ash for you," Gary said. "Always itching for a battle."

He, Brock, Dawn and the pokemon all followed out, taking off after Ash. However, only one remained behind. Her gaze rather than fixed on watching everyone else run out was fixed upon the doors that led to the back room.

On one hand, she wanted to go in there and see him, but on the other hand, guilt ate away at her and she was afraid of what might happen if she did go. She sighed heavily before getting up.

("_I've caused him so much pain,_") she thought. ("_What would he see in a girl like me? I may not deserve his love after everything I did to him. All I want is for him to know how truly sorry I am._")

Slowly Buneary walked towards the backroom doors. She looked around to see where Nurse Joy was and found the room to be completely empty. Taking in a deep breath, Buneary walked through the doors and straight for the room Pikachu lied in.

**Happy Holidays everyone!**


	29. Chapter 29

Lying still after all that happened never felt so good, yet it bothered him because he was lying down. Plus the aching pain didn't make the feeling quite comfortable. The only way he would ever escape the pain would be to sleep, but getting to sleep was a lot more difficult than it seemed, especially if one was in aching pain.

He shut his eyes, hoping sleep would come, but the pain kept him awake, not allowing him to sleep. He sighed and cringed as the pain flared up as he twitched a muscle. He grunted as it died down after a few minutes as the feeling of sleep suddenly began to come.

A small smile formed upon his face as he began to sink into slumber, but just as he drifted off, he felt another presence inside the room with him. He didn't even need to open his eyes to know who was there.

("Buneary,") he whispered quietly.

He remained quiet as he heard the shuffling of feet slowly making his way towards him. A moment later, the bed shook a little, indicating that Buneary had hopped up onto the bed.

("Pikachu, I'm-") she began, but was cut short as Pikachu smiled and grasped her paw with his, despite the agonizing pain upon moving it.

He remained silent until the pain subsided again before he spoke.

("I don't blame you for what you've done,") he said, smiling slightly. ("I never did. You really need to stop blaming yourself for everything you've done. Nothing is going to change what happened. All that we should do is move on and forget about it.")

("I know,") she said. ("But I still feel guilty about it.")

("That can't be helped, unfortunately,") he said with a bit of serious tone in his voice. ("We both will be carrying scars in our hearts. You for the betrayal and for hurting me, and me for feeling like I can't help you carry the burdens you're feeling.")

("And I suppose those scars will remain with us for the rest of our lives, won't they?") she asked, though she knew the answer.

("They will,") he said with all seriousness before letting up some. ("But it's those scars that we learn from and become better than we were before.")

Hearing this, Buneary managed a small smile upon her face. Pikachu smiled as well saying, ("There's that smile I love seeing so much.")

("How do you know I'm smiling?") Buneary asked. ("Your eyes are closed.")

("It's a feeling,") Pikachu said before yawning, flaring up a bit more pain before adding, ("I'm really, really tired. Going through an operation twice after nearly losing my life takes a lot out of me.")

("Yeah,") Buneary said as she began to get up, but Pikachu kept a tight grip upon the paw he held onto the entire time.

Startled, she glanced back at Pikachu who kept his grip.

("Pikachu?") she questioned.

("I don't want you to leave,") he said. ("I want you to sleep with me.")

If Buneary wasn't blushing much before, now would have been a good time as ever to see the blush that was on her face. In fact, it covered her entire face as her eyes widened. She felt her heart racing a mile per second. She felt like she was ready to pass out when she suddenly remembered something.

("Didn't we sleep together last night?") she asked.

("I thought last night was when we became a couple,") Pikachu said as he thought back to the previous night. ("You know, now that I think about it, you are right. We did sleep together. How silly of me to forget.")

("How silly indeed,") Buneary said as she lied down next to Pikachu and cuddled with him.

Silence occurred for quite a while as Pikachu's breathing began to slow to a steady pace. Still having something on her mind to say, Buneary quietly whispered, ("Pikachu?")

("Hmm?") he mumbled.

("Do you think everyone will trust me again if I work real hard to earn it?") she asked.

("Only if,") Pikachu replied softly. ("Don't worry, Buneary. You won't be having to do it alone. I'll always be by your side.")

("Thanks, Pikachu,") Buneary said. ("That means a lot coming from you.")

("Why wouldn't it?") Pikachu asked. ("I'm your mate. I'll always be by your side through good times and bad times.")

Buneary smiled and planted a kiss on Pikachu's cheek, getting a warm smile from him.

("I love you, Pikachu,")

("I love...you...too,") Pikachu said as he finally drifted off to sleep.

Buneary silently watched her lover's chest slowly rising and falling while he slept. A warm smile came to her face as she cuddled even closer to him before drifting off to sleep herself.


	30. Chapter 30

For two whole weeks Ash and the gang remained at the Pokemon Center while Pikachu recovered from his fatal injuries. But it was all good while waiting. Gary got to battle Brock and Dawn's pokemon and helped point out battling tips for Dawn so she wouldn't make the same mistake as last time the next time she battled.

Brock's breeder skills took over as he bred and examined each of Gary's pokemon while Gary learned from Brock with interest so that he could use some of the techniques he learned to use on pokemon when he examined on them.

Gary also got to participate in a small contest with Ash, Dawn, and Brock to get the feel of how contests worked. Professor Oak and Ash's mom came by to comfort Ash and became the other two judges.

While they were all busy having fun, a certain female rabbit pokemon was hard at work taking everyone's chores for two whole weeks but Turtwig's, who offered to help carry some of the burden being that he had her trust that she could get the job done, but Buneary declined and said it would help gain some of the other pokemons' trust back towards her. Turtwig accepted the declination and allowed Buneary to treat the rest of the pokemon while she did chores they were assigned to.

By the end of the first week, Buizel, Happiny, Sudowoodo, Piplup, and Pachirisu all gained her trust again and lifted their assigned chores off of her. Halfway through the second week, Buneary was utterly exhausted from all the work and was just about to pass out when Croagunk came along and told her to go spend a bit of time with Pikachu.

At first she refused, saying that she still had a lot of work to do, but Croagunk told her that he'd finish up for the day, being that she hadn't gotten to see Pikachu in well over a week. Buneary thanked Croagunk for his kindness, but would rather earn seeing him instead of being offered by it. Croagunk understood and walked on to do whatever business he does.

During the two weeks, Jigglypuff just simply disappeared. By the time the question was asked, Jigglypuff was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe she left to go find someone else to sing to," Brock said.

"Guess we don't have to worry about falling asleep anymore whenever she sings," Ash chuckled.

"Until the next time she shows up," Brock chuckled as well.

"Yeah," Ash said.

By the end of the second week, Buneary had just about everyone's trust back for her. Ash and them all noticed the hard determined work she did to receive it.

"I can't believe Buneary did everyone's work for two whole weeks," Dawn said with surprise and amazement.

"Well what did you expect?" Gary asked. "It was the only way she could gain everyone's trust back. And I for one certainly trust her."

"As do I," Professor Oak said. "When trust is broken, one has to work hard if they want it back. Otherwise, don't try it at all."

"Well I'm glad everything worked out well in the end," Delia, Ash's mom, said as she glanced down at the over exhausted Buneary who was just being picked up by Dawn.

"I think a good night's sleep should help you," Dawn said to Buneary. "How does that sound?"

All Buneary could do was manage a small smile in response, sending the message clear to Dawn.

"She deserves it," Brock said. "But isn't there one more reward for her good behavior and hard working?"

"What would that be, Brock?" Ash asked, confused to what he was referring to.

"Well why don't we show her?" Brock asked, glancing over to Nurse Joy.

"One moment," Nurse Joy said as she walked into the back room.

Buneary felt her eyes wanting to shut on her for all the hard work she's been doing for the past two weeks. She barely had any time to spend with her beloved pokemon since last week. The chores were getting harder and harder for her to handle and she almost quit, but Pikachu told her to hang in there for him.

Several moments passed by before Nurse Joy returned, opening the door up and holding it as everyone watched an all too familiar electrical mouse slowly walking out. No one was shocked to see the state Pikachu was in, mainly because they all saw, including Oak and Delia, and eventually gotten used to seeing him like this.

For two whole weeks Pikachu had been recovering, and now the two weeks have passed by at last and Pikachu was up and moving, though not as fast as he used to be.

Pikachu stopped after walking out and observed everyone watching him. Everyone he knew was there, staring right at him, smiles forming on their faces. Then, they all moved forward and welcomed him out from his two week rest.

"Glad to see you're out, Pikachu," Gary said, squatting down and smiling at him.

("We've missed you,") Pachirisu said, giving Pikachu a light hug so as to not upset his wounds.

("Looking better already,") Buizel commented.

True, Pikachu was better looking. Some of the scars on his body healed, though the major ones he had, such as the long gash along his body, had not. Pikachu was happy to see everyone again after not being able to see them for two whole weeks, but his heart was looking for one in particular. And she just so happened to be in the arms of her trainer who stayed behind and watched.

Almost immediately as Pikachu spotted her, everyone became silent and moved out of his way so he could walk over. Everyone now knew the relationship between Pikachu and Buneary. Well, everyone but Ash, that is, who still remains clueless to love even to this day.

All watched in silence (Ash in confusion) as Pikachu stopped before Dawn and looked up at her, his eyes pleading to see the pokemon he loved. Dawn knelt down and allowed Buneary to climb down from her cradled arms, also adding that she was glad to see him out and about before leaving the two alone.

The two stood staring at each other, staring into one another's eyes as everyone waited for something to happen. Then, Pikachu spoke.

("You look like you've been beat up,") he laughed a bit.

("But not nearly as bad as you,") she said with a small smile.

("I knew you could do it,") Pikachu said.

("I had you there with me every step of the way,") Buneary said.

("I told you, Buneary. I'll always be by your side. No matter what,") Pikachu said, filling Buneary's heart with pure happiness. ("Because I love you.")

("And I love you, Pikachu,") Buneary said before the two leaned in and began a long, passionate kiss.

Everyone watching smiled, touched by exchanged pikas and buns as they all began clapping for the two. Of course, someone sniffed, causing Dawn to tease.

"You're not crying, are you Brock?"

"No," Brock said, trying his hardest not to cry. "I just got something in my eye."

Of course, a gentle jab from Croagunk's Poison Jab set the waterworks off as Brock began weeping at the heart touching scene. Ash was clapping as well, though confused about what was going on. Gary was going to have to have a talk with him later, unless he left. Then Brock would have to have "the talk." And of course, there was one pokemon who was clapping, but wasn't entirely happy. Let's just say he's the pyro type on the team.

Pikachu and Buneary parted for some air, tears happily rolling down Buneary's face as she finally got what she always wanted: Pikachu's love.

--

"Well, guess it's time for me to hit the road," Gary said as he slung his backpack sack over his shoulder. "Got to get back to the lab and all."

"I hear you," Ash said. "If we ever meet up again, I'll be the one to break that tie."

"Keep dreaming," Gary said with a snicker. "You'll never surpass my level, Ashy boy."

"Oh yes I will," Ash remarked back. "Just you wait and see."

Gary gave out a hearty laugh before turning around and walking off, still laughing.

"That will be the day," he laughed as he walked off into the crowd.

Ash watched as his old friend and rival blended in with the crowd and disappeared entirely from view.

"And I think it's high time that we got back as well," Professor Oak said. "Can't let Tracy be messing anything up now, can we?"

--

__

(Back at Professor Oak's lab)

"Aw man!" Tracy said. "Professor Oak's going to kill me."

He hung his head down in defeat as pokemon stampeded right through the lab, being chased by a over hyper Growlithe.

--

__

(Back at Ever Lake City)

"So what's my big Pokemon Master going to do next?" asked Delia.

"Well," Ash said thoughtfully. "I'm going to try and train my other pokemon to try and win the rest of the gym battles I still have to face. It's not going to be easy though now that Pikachu can't battle any more."

"Don't lose hope, honey," Delia said. "I still have faith in you. And I know you can win."

"We all do," Brock added, causing Ash to smile.

"You're right," he said. "I can win. But still, Pikachu not battling is like a piece of me not being able to exist."

"Sometimes we have to do what we have to, even if something tragic happens in the course of journeying that's most important to us," Professor Oak said. "Even though Pikachu can no longer battle, he'll give you the support you need from the sidelines."

Ash turned to Pikachu and asked, "Do you think you can, Pikachu? It will be a big help to me if you do. As long as I have you around, I'll always feel like I win either way."

("You can count on me,") Pkachu said with a determined expression.

"All right then!" Ash said excitedly as he stood back up. "That settles it. My pokemon journey continues."

"Oh!" Delia cried. "That's my Ash."

Not being able to hold the tears back, Delia rushed forward and began hugging Ash, embarrassing him.

"Mom!" he yelled out. "You're embarrassing me!"

Everyone laughed while Delia continued to hug her son. Of course, this was the opportunity that a certain someone needed for the moment to talk. Walking over to Buneary and tapping her on her shoulder, gaining her attention, he motioned her to follow him.

("I'll be right back,") she told Pikachu.

("Don't you be gone too long,") Pikachu called over his shoulder.

("Don't worry,") Chimchar said. ("We won't.")

Walking off a few feet, Chimchar stopped.

("So what do you want to talk about?") Buneary asked before Chimchar ducked into an ally next to him, pulling Buneary in and slamming her against the hard, brick wall.

("You might have everyone buying into your niceness, little miss goody two-shoes,") Chimchar spat. ("But I'm not buying it one little bit.")

("What do you mean?") Buneary asked, struggling to get free. ("You're hurting me.")

("I've been with Paul long enough to see how he treats his pokemon,") Chimchar said. ("You're no better off than he is. From now on, I'll be watching you, making sure you don't do any more damage to Pikachu.")

("I give you my word I won't,") Buneary said, desperately trying to break free.

("I'll be watching to make sure that doesn't happen,") Chimchar said. ("One slip up, anything you do to hurt Pikachu physically or emotionally, break his heart, for example, I'll make sure he never gets hurt again. Understand?")

Buneary was frightened now by Chimchar's attitude, clearly being threatened.

("I asked if you understood me?") Chimchar yelled, his tail flame flaring up.

Buneary gulped and nervously nodded her head, being released.

("Oh, and if you tell anyone about this, I'll make sure you're disowned,") he added before walking out.

Buneary remained where she was and trembled. Clearly Chimchar was being a little too overprotective of Pikachu, but what could she do? If she told anyone, Chimchar clearly stated that she would be disowned, and that was the last thing she wanted, let alone causing a breakup of friends between Chimchar and everyone else.

"Buneary!" she heard her trainer's voice call out. "Where'd you go?"

Putting aside the fear for a moment, Buneary jumped out from her hiding place and yelled, ("Here I am.")

"There you are," Dawn said as she walked over to her. "So what'd you and Chimchar talk about?"

An image of Chimchar smashing her pokeball flashed across her mind and she decided to pretend to brush it off by saying, ("Nothing really.")

"Bet he was apologizing to you for thinking wrongly of you, huh?" Dawn asked.

("Yeah,") Buneary said in a normal tone as the two walked back to the gang.

Chimchar was nowhere in sight, so she figured that he was back in his ball.

("Everything go all right?") Pikachu asked, averting Buneary's gaze to him.

("Everything's peachy!") Buneary said with a fake smile.

("That's great,") Pikachu said as he looked up to what his trainer was talking about to Professor Oak.

"Really?" Ash said before looking down at his pokemon. "Hear that Pikachu? There's a pokemon tournament in another town starting in about three months. You think the other pokemon are up for it?"

("You bet I do,") Pikachu said, pumping his fists into the air.

"That should give us enough time to strengthen our pokemon," Brock said.

"I can't wait," Ash said, getting a sigh out form his mother. "That's my Ash, always running off to more battles. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, mom," Ash said as he hugged her one final time. "You take care of yourself now, all right?"

"I will mom," Ash replied. "And I got Brock and Dawn to watch out for me too."

"And don't forget to change your you-know-whats," Delia said.

"Mom!" Ash said, embarrassed by her mentioning this out loud.

"Well, you ready to go?" Brock asked.

"Let's hit the road," Ash said as the trio, plus Pikachu and Buneary, began walking towards the exit of Ever Lake.. "Bye mom. Bye Professor Oak. See you again soon!"

"Take care, son!" Delia yelled, waving.

"Send me more pokemon to discover!" Professor Oak said.

"I'll do my best!" Ash yelled back as the gang all disappeared into the crowd and out for another adventure.

****

To all those who have reviewed, thank you. This is not the end, though, for a sequel will be coming soon. Can't end the story with Pikachu never being able to battle again and Chimchar's threat being left weighted on poor Buneary now, can I? Hope you all enjoyed this story!


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